Perishable evidence, such as tyre marks, scuff marks and road paint, deteriorates rapidly at incident scenes due to the weather, traffic flow or essential repair work. The environment in which vehicles are kept after an incident can also affect continuity and quality of evidence.

This scene and vehicle data can be crucial in the resolution of serious injury claims as it provides independent factual evidence as to the circumstances of the incident.

On receipt of a new instruction, we can assist with advice on the collection of time-sensitive incident evidence, for example

• Recording perishable evidence at the scene, potentially including rest positions of the vehicles and those involved based on scene damage and / or police road markings
• Carry out video drive throughs which capture details such as the vegetation at the scene at the time of the collision
• Capture short-lived marks on vehicles, such as contact marks from pedestrians
• Have a greater likelihood of capturing details such as mirror positions on HGVs, which assists greatly with visibility assessments for those cases involving pedestrians and cyclists, before vehicles are restored to service
• Carry out seat belt inspections to ascertain whether the belt was being work at the time of the collision
• Examine vehicle bulbs to ascertain whether they were illuminated at the time of the collision
• Where a collision has occurred during the hours of darkness, our forensic collision investigators often conduct scene visits at night in order to better analyse the visibility at that time of day

Often, our experts are requested to carry out anniversary visits to replicate conditions at the time of the collision as far as is possible.