Areas of Expertise:
Sight Obstruction Analysis
Tire Failures and Tread Separations
Vehicle Interior Assessment
Occupant Compartment Intrusion/Deformation
Occupant Contact Evidence
Supplemental Restraint System Performance Assessment
Safety Belts and Pretensioners
Air Bags and Other Devices
Occupant Kinematics and Injury Assessment
Child Safety Seat Installation and Performance Assessment
Pedestrian Incidents
Crash Site Documentation and Scaled Diagramming
Physical Evidence Interpretation
Vehicle Dynamics Identification and Animation
Damage Assessment
Energy Calculations/Delta-V Analysis
Calculated Vehicle Pre-Crash, Impact, Post-Impact Velocities
Vehicle Speed and Time-Distance Calculations and Analysis
Comprehensive Event Data Recorder (EDR) Analysis
Vehicle Defects Investigation
Contributing to Crash Causation
Non-Performance of Safety Features
CRA personnel excel in all aspects of crash investigation and reconstruction. With more than 35 years of experience in the industry, our staff have conducted thousands of in-depth crash investigations for our clients. These investigations have focused on both singular crash events and groups of crashes pertaining to a specific focus for analysis and reporting. While the majority of CRA’s crash investigation and reconstruction experience has concerned light-duty vehicles, our staff have also conducted hundreds of investigations as well as special studies concerning commercial vehicles, motorcoaches, heavy-trucks, and all-terrain vehicles. This expertise can be transferred to the investigation of other off-road vehicles, including snowmobiles, golf carts, low-speed vehicles, and heavy equipment. We also have extensive expertise in the investigation of crashes, fires, and other incidents involving emergency response vehicles (police vehicles and ambulances).
Accurate reconstruction of crash events lies in the thorough understanding of vehicle design, mass properties, and vehicle dynamics, coupled with intimate knowledge of the underlying physical laws of momentum and energy conservation. Computerized reconstruction tools can assist and enhance the crash analysis, but without the underlying understanding of physics, their use can be detrimental. CRA’s engineers have experience in crash modeling dating back to the 1990’s. Their technical education and experience have allowed them to excel in the evaluation and analyses of physical evidence, vehicle crush, vehicle dynamics, and occupant kinematics, all of which are required elements of a robust, thorough, and comprehensive crash reconstruction.
