The Forensic expert kollegium conducts all types of auto-technical expertise in both judicial and pre-trial proceedings.

Transport traceology expertise is one of the subtypes of auto-technical forensic expertise.

To provide an understanding of the capabilities of this subtype of automotive forensic expertise, as well as to explain its scope, a brief description of the expertise objectives and the most typical questions addressed during the examination (provided that the necessary source data and proper condition of the examination objects are available) is presented below.

During a transport traceology expertise, traces and damage at the scene of a road traffic accident (hereinafter referred to as an “RTA”) and on vehicles resulting from vehicle collisions, vehicle impacts with people, animals or other material objects, vehicle rollovers and other incidents, unlawful actions of third parties, natural disasters, etc. are examined.

The objects of transport traceology expertise are:

• traces on vehicles, the road, the physical environment or fragments of the RTA scene;
• data contained in the materials submitted for examination that do not require legal assessment.

The subject matter of a transport traceology expertise consists of the circumstances established by the expert through the examination of traces and damage.

Within the framework of a transport traceology expertise, experts of the Forensic expert kollegium solve the following tasks:

• Determination (reconstruction) of the mechanism of RTA development in its various phases.
• Establishment of the mechanism of interaction between vehicles during a collision and determination of the extent of the resulting damage.
• Determination of the relative position of vehicles and the direction of impact at the moment of collision.
• Establishment of the mechanism of impact on pedestrians (animals) and stationary obstacles, and determination of the extent of the resulting vehicle damage.
• Determination of the relative position of vehicles with respect to each other and the boundaries of the roadway at the moment of collision (impact), as well as the coordinates of the collision (impact) point.
• Establishment of whether the vehicles were moving or stationary at the moment of the initial contact interaction during the collision.
• Determination of the existence, time and cause of damage to vehicle tires, flexible brake hoses and threaded connections.
• Establishment of the fact that vehicle component failures occurred after the RTA and determination of the causal relationship between such failures and the RTA under consideration.
• Determination of the possibility of damage being sustained by a vehicle as a result of mutual contact interaction.
• Verification of whether information regarding the mechanism of RTA development (provided by participants, witnesses, etc.) corresponds to the actually established circumstances.

Tasks requiring a comprehensive examination (in conjunction with other types of examinations) may also be addressed. Most frequently, transport traceology expertise are conducted in combination with the following types of examinations:

• forensic road engineering expertise;
• forensic auto-commodity expertise;
• forensic expertise of materials, substances and products:
  
  • paints and coatings;
  • metals, alloys and products made from them.

The following questions may be submitted for resolution within a transport traceology expertise:

• Could the damage to the vehicle in a certain extent (including the occurrence of failures in vehicle parts, assemblies and units) have been caused under the circumstances of the RTA under consideration?
• Did contact interaction between the vehicles occur?
• How were the vehicles positioned relative to each other and to the roadway boundaries at the moment of collision (impact)? Where was the point of collision (impact) located?
• At what speed and in what direction was the vehicle moving at the moment of collision (impact), or was it stationary at that time?
• What is the cause of the destruction (damage) of a vehicle wheel tire (tube), flexible brake hose or threaded connection? Is such destruction (damage) causally related to the RTA (or another incident)?
• Could the RTA have developed (including the occurrence of a certain extent of damage) in the manner described by the driver (witness)?

The above list and content of questions are indicative. In each specific case, they may be expanded and detailed to the extent necessary and proportionate to the tasks to be resolved in a particular situation. Therefore, in order to clarify the questions and avoid situations in which it would be impossible to provide answers to them, a preliminary consultation is generally required. During such a consultation, the available materials and documents will be preliminarily reviewed, and recommendations will be provided regarding the submission of additional information or other objects.

Examinations conducted within the framework of transport traceology analysis are performed using various methods (sensory, measurement-based, calculation-based, expert assessment methods, modeling using software and graphical systems, etc.), which are selected by the expert individually according to the specific expertise task and the questions submitted for resolution.

You can consult on an automotive forensic expertise at the Forensic expert kollegium at: Minsk, st. Zhukovskogo st., 11 A, 4th floor

or by phone +375 (17) 317 04 71; +375 (17) 317 04 72; +375 (17) 317 04 73; +375 (17) 317 04 74; +375 (17) 317 04 76; +375 (44) 588 60 11; +375 (29) 109 60 11