Expertise
Five kinds of question, one discipline.
Each area below describes the questions courts ask, how the engineering answers them, and where the limits of the evidence lie. The method behind all of them is on the methods page.
Collision evidence analysis
Engineering analysis of the collision evidence a case already holds: damage, deformation, momentum and energy consistency, video and recorded data, and review of other experts' reconstructions, with every input sourced and every tolerance stated.
- Is the account consistent with the physics?
- What do the damage and the data say about speed and severity?
- Does the other side's reconstruction evidence hold up?
Crumple & damage-consistency analysis
Crush, energy and delta-V: reading a vehicle's deformation to say how severe an impact was, from which direction, and whether the damage is consistent with the account.
- How severe was the impact?
- Is this damage consistent with that collision?
- What delta-V did the struck vehicle undergo?
Vehicle damage & credit hire
Repair method and cost, total loss and salvage, roadworthiness, repair period and equivalence of the hire vehicle. Also pre-accident valuation, diminution and salvage categorisation, and vehicle rejection under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
- Was the repair method and cost reasonable?
- Was the vehicle safe to drive while awaiting repair?
- Should it have been repaired or written off?
Vehicle data: EDR, driver assistance and automated vehicles
Interpretation of event data recorder, driver-assistance and telematics data retrieved by a qualified tool operator or the manufacturer: what exists, what each field means, how it is preserved and what it can and cannot prove. I do not carry out downloads.
- Was a driver-assistance system active?
- What did the vehicle's data record?
- What does the recorded data show the system did?
Component & steering condition
Screening assessment of fractured, fatigued or corroded components from photographs, service history and repair records; steering, column and linkage condition; loss of power assistance. Laboratory fractography is arranged through an accredited laboratory and reported as such.
- Did a component fail before the collision, or because of it?
- Does the service and repair history support the failure claimed?
- Was the steering or power assistance in a condition to cause the loss of control described?
Reports, reviews and joint statements
Reports written to meet the civil and criminal procedure rules in substance as well as form: the duty to the court, the range of opinion, the sources, and the declaration that stands behind them.
- Does the report comply with Part 35 and PD 35?
- Is the opinion within the expert's expertise?
- Has the range of opinion been given?
Enquiries
Discuss an instruction.
Tell me the type of matter, the court timetable and what question the court needs answered. I reply personally, usually within one working day, and I will say plainly whether the engineering can help and what it would cost.
Prefer email? rogernewbyconsulting@gmail.com
Roger Newby
Vehicle Engineer & Expert Witness