During An Accident Reconstruction Investigation, Many Complicated Issues Arise That Must Be Presented To A Judge Or Jury. Although The Reconstructionist May Understand The Issues And Can Explain Them Orally, The Audience May Not Completely Understand. The Use Of Computer Animations And Graphics Can Take Those Complicated Issues And Present Them In A Clear And Understandable Way. The Graphics And Animations That Are Developed From The Engineering Analysis Are A Visual Representation Of The Forensic Engineers Opinion. Psychological Studies Show That People Are Only 15% Likely To Remember Orally-Communicated Information, But 95% Likely To Remember Orally-Communicated Information In Conjunction With Visually-Communicated Information. Visual Tools, Such As Photo Matching, Evidence Matching, Photogrammetry, Video Matching, 3d Modeling, Simulation, And Animation, Can Be Implemented During The Accident Investigation Process To Identify Evidence And Demonstrate A Thorough Analysis For Later Use In Court. For Example, Roof Crush Analysis Graphics, As Seen In Figure 1, Not Only Visually Illustrates The Deformation Of The Roofs Structure, But The Graphics Also Have A Solid Foundation Based On Accurate Measurements Of The Physical Evidence.
Physical Evidence Deposited By Vehicles As A Result Of An Accident May Not Always Be Fully Documented By The Investigating Law Enforcement Officers By Means Of Measurements. Many Times, The Investigating Officers Are Able To Document The Location Of The Vehicles At Rest, But Can Only Measure And Locate Some Of The Related Tire Marks And/Or Gouges That May Be Present On The Roadway As A Result Of The Collision. The Officers May Further Supplement Their Investigation By Photographing The Scene Of The Accident. The Photographs Often Depict The Position And Geometry Of Other Physical Evidence Relative To The Roadway Or Other Geographic Features. However, The Forensic Engineer May Require More Detailed Information Regarding The Physical Evidence Than Is Shown In The Photographs Or Measured By The Officers, And Must Therefore Take Further Steps To Extract It. Depending On The Evaluation Required In The Case, The Forensic Engineer Would Need To Further Analyze The Accident By An Inspection Of The Accident Site And/Or Vehicles. After Collecting The Available Information From The Measurements Made By The Officers, The Photographs Taken At The Scene, And The Inspections By The Forensic Engineer, The Data Must Then Be Compiled In A Comprehensive Form To Further Evaluate The Dynamics Of The Accident. This Paper Discusses Three Methods (Camera Matching, Photogrammetry, And Rectification) Of Collecting The Physical Evidence From Several Sources And The Procedure Of Producing A Comprehensive Forensic Map Of The Evidence Relative To The Roadway And The Dynamic Motion Of The Vehicle.
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