When The Facts Of A Crash Are Disputed, Evidence Often Tells The Real Story
After a serious car accident, everyone involved usually has their own version of what happened. Unfortunately, drivers who cause crashes do not always admit fault, and witness accounts can be incomplete, inconsistent, or influenced by what happened in the moments after impact.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), human error contributes to the overwhelming majority of serious crashes. But identifying exactly what happened, who made the critical mistake, and whether that mistake caused the collision often requires more than competing statements.
That is where accident reconstruction can become an important part of a case.
At Jabar LaLiberty, LLC, our Portland and Waterville car accident attorneys work with qualified accident reconstruction experts when the evidence demands it. In complex cases, scientific analysis can help establish fault, challenge inaccurate claims, and strengthen a victim's position during settlement negotiations or at trial.
What Does An Accident Reconstruction Expert Do?
An accident reconstruction expert uses physical evidence, engineering principles, mathematics, and technology to determine how a crash occurred.
Rather than relying on assumptions or opinions, these specialists analyze evidence left behind by the collision and use established scientific methods to recreate the sequence of events.
Many reconstruction experts come from backgrounds in engineering, physics, biomechanics, or law enforcement crash investigations. Their findings are often used by attorneys, insurance companies, judges, and juries when fault is disputed.
Not every car accident requires this level of analysis. However, reconstruction experts can be particularly valuable when:
- Drivers provide conflicting accounts
- There are no independent witnesses
- The crash resulted in catastrophic injuries
- A fatality occurred
- Multiple vehicles were involved
- Commercial trucks played a role in the collision
What Evidence Do Reconstruction Experts Analyze?
The strength of a reconstruction analysis depends largely on the evidence available. The sooner an investigation begins, the more evidence can often be preserved.
Common sources of evidence include:
- Skid Marks and Physical Roadway Evidence: Tire marks, gouges, debris fields, and impact locations can help determine speed, braking activity, and vehicle movement.
- Vehicle Damage: Crush patterns, impact locations, and structural damage often reveal how vehicles collided and the forces involved.
- Event Data Recorders: Many modern vehicles contain electronic systems that record speed, braking, steering input, throttle position, and other information in the seconds leading up to a crash.
- Video Footage: Traffic cameras, security cameras, dashcams, and other video sources can provide valuable visual evidence of what occurred.
- Weather and Road Conditions: Maine weather frequently contributes to collisions. Rain, snow, ice, visibility issues, and roadway conditions can all be incorporated into the analysis.
- Cell Phone Records: When distracted driving is suspected, cell phone records may help establish whether a driver was texting, calling, or using an application at the time of the crash.
Many of these forms of evidence can disappear quickly. Vehicles are repaired, surveillance footage is overwritten, and physical roadway evidence fades over time.
How Reconstruction Experts Determine Fault
Accident reconstruction is not guesswork. Experts use established scientific principles to calculate vehicle speeds, braking distances, impact angles, reaction times, and other factors that help explain how a collision occurred.
Their analysis may reveal whether a driver:
- Was speeding
- Failed to brake in time
- Ran a red light or stop sign
- Crossed the center line
- Failed to yield the right of way
- Lost control due to reckless driving
Those conclusions often carry far more weight than unsupported allegations made by either side after a crash.
When Accident Reconstruction Is Commonly Used In Maine Cases
While reconstruction can be useful in many situations, it is most often used when liability is heavily contested or when damages are substantial.
Examples include:
- Fatal car accidents
- Head-on collisions
- Serious highway accidents
- Intersection collisions involving disputed right-of-way
- Multi-vehicle crashes
- Truck accident cases involving commercial vehicles
These cases often involve significant financial exposure for insurance companies, which is one reason liability disputes are common.
Why Reconstruction Can Be Especially Important Under Maine Law
Maine follows a modified comparative negligence system. An injured person may still recover compensation if they were partially responsible for the crash, provided their share of fault does not exceed the legal threshold.
Because compensation can be reduced based on a person's percentage of fault, even small shifts in liability can significantly affect the value of a claim.
Accident reconstruction can help establish a more accurate picture of what occurred and prevent insurance companies from assigning unfair blame to an injured victim.
Building A Strong Case After A Serious Maine Car Accident
Insurance companies often hire their own experts when significant claims are involved. Their goal is often to challenge liability, reduce damages, or minimize what they must pay.
Having an attorney who understands when reconstruction evidence is needed can help level the playing field.
At Jabar LaLiberty, LLC, we have represented Maine accident victims since 1979. Our team has the resources to investigate serious crashes, preserve critical evidence, work with qualified experts when necessary, and pursue the compensation our clients deserve.
Our case results include a $530,000 recovery for a motor vehicle accident involving serious head and body injuries.
If you were injured in a Maine car accident and fault is being disputed, contact us for a free consultation. We handle cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.
"It's not just about the case. It's about the person, and when the person is hurt, he's very understanding about everything that goes on with it; the doctors, the surgery. Nobody could have done any better than Jason did. It was really a hard case; it involved a lot of depositions because the insurance companies didn't want to pay. They wanted to say it was my fault or just a bad accident. And like I said, he never backed down." - Personal Injury Client, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐