The Traffic Accident Reconstruction Origin -ARnews-

Scene Evidence: Skids, Yaws, Gouges, etc.

Kenneth Reeves (krreeves@cybertron.com)
Fri, 9 May 1997 11:09:53 -0400 (EDT)

I am a reconstructionist with the Meridian(MS) Police Department, I also do
civil reconstructions. Even with the luxury of responding to an accident just
after it occurred, I have found situations where it difficult to distinquish
evidence at the scene. Let a few months elapse on the civil side, where skids
fade and gouges age, and it makes it that much more difficult.
An example would be a dangerous intersection where you find a half a dozen
tractor-trailer skids made by a half a dozen tractor trailers.
I have found the best method for dealing with this situation is to document
everything, I measure any questionable marks. I then produce a CAD drawing,
by retracing the vehicle on paper you can eliminate most, any thing left in
question I do not reference.
Does anyone know if an accurate fade rate of skid marks exists, obviously the
shadow is gone in hours if not minutes, but I have worked accidents 2 months
old and wondered how much of the skid has dissappeared.

Kenneth Reeves
krreeves@cybertron.com

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