It is extremely important to try and find out exactly what happened in a car accident, for insurance purposes, and to establish fault and legal responsibility.
Determining what happened for sure in an accident is sometimes easy. For example, if a car hit the back of another, then it is pretty clear who would be deemed guilty for the rear-end collision. However, this does not apply to all automobile accidents. Usually, accidents take place quickly, and let us face it, no one ever plans to get into one, so it is extremely easy for the driver of one or both vehicles to forget exactly what occurred at the time. In some cases, people will not tell the truth to protect themselves from legal responsibility.
A look into a car accident is often required, to determine fault and liability, and to confirm that no one lied about what happened at the time.
Eight-Part Inspection at the Accident Site
One of the initial steps in investigating a car accident entails a detailed inspection of the scene. When coming to the accident site, the investigator will collect the following details.
- The precise place of the collision.
- The day and time the crash happened.
- The weather conditions when it happened.
- The road conditions.
- The time law enforcement was informed of the accident.
- The one who dialed the police officers and how.
- The type of motor vehicles involved in the accident.
- The number of automobiles which were involved in it.
The investigator will want to know the resting position of all the automobiles, skid marks, gouge marks, scrub marks, and the point of impact. It is important for him or her to find out what, when, who, how, and where the accident happened.
The investigating professional will probably want to take photographs of the whole scene from all angles, and those of the damages happened to the autos.
Who Looks into the Matter?
The main investigators include the law enforcement personnel who come to the scene, plus independent car accident investigators.
The police look into the scene because someone called them to report the accident. The police are supposed to collect witness testimonies and talk to drivers and any person who was inside the autos at the time to try and find out fault. However, the officer sometimes may not cite any person for fault if what happened is not clear and they get opposite statements from the drivers.
An independent investigator looks into the matter often when the at-fault driver’s insurer, personal injury lawyer, or the driver themselves hire the professional. It is his or her job to assess and look into the underlying cause of the collision, and to determine legal and financial responsibility.