Road traffic collisions, reconstructed from the physical evidence.
Vectis is the forensic engineering division of Hyperworks Technology Limited, working in Trinidad and Tobago. We establish how a collision happened and the speeds involved, and we state how far the evidence can be trusted. Our reports are written for court.
What we do
We work out what happened on the road, and we show our working.
After a collision, the evidence is spread across the scene, the vehicles and the photographs taken on the day. Tyre marks, debris, crush damage and rest positions all record how the vehicles moved.
We survey that evidence, measure it and apply the physics of motion and impact to it. The result is a reconstruction of the sequence of events: where each vehicle was, the path it took and how fast it was likely to have been travelling.
Where the evidence cannot support a firm answer, the report says so plainly.
How we work
The same rules apply to every instruction, whoever it comes from.
- Independent of the instructing party
- Our findings are the same whichever side instructs us. We report what the evidence shows, including the parts that do not help the client.
- Every figure given with its uncertainty
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Speeds and distances are reported as ranges, with the inputs that set each end of the range. A single number on its own claims more precision than the evidence can give.
Example format only: impact speed 48 to 56 km/h, best estimate 52 km/h. - Methods and inputs disclosed
- Each report sets out the method, the measurements and the assumptions behind every result. Another engineer can repeat the calculation and check it.
- Trinidad and Tobago conditions
- We work from local conditions: a right-hand-drive fleet driving on the left, local road layouts and markings, and road surfaces that are often wet from tropical rain. Friction values and sight lines are chosen with that in mind.
Services
Each service can be instructed on its own or as part of a full reconstruction.
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Collision reconstruction
The sequence of events from first sighting to rest. The positions, paths and timing of each vehicle and road user, drawn to scale.
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Scene survey and scale diagrams
Measurement of the road geometry, marks and debris, tied to fixed reference points on site. Delivered as accurate scale plans.
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Photo and video measurement
Photogrammetry from ordinary photographs and video. Positions and lengths are recovered from the images, with the measurement error stated.
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Impact speed analysis
Speed estimates from crush energy, slide to stop distances and conservation of momentum. Each estimate carries its uncertainty range.
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Collision simulation
Computer simulation of the collision to test which account of events fits the physical evidence. Competing versions are run and compared against the marks and rest positions.
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Reports for court
Written reports prepared under Part 33 of the Civil Proceedings Rules 1998 of Trinidad and Tobago. The expert's duty is to the court, and each report is written to that duty.
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Independent review
Review of a reconstruction prepared for another party. We check the measurements, the method and the arithmetic, and set out which conclusions the evidence supports and which it does not.
The toolset
Collision Bench, our in-house reconstruction software.
We carry out our analysis in Collision Bench, software the practice built for its own work. It keeps four tasks in one place: scene diagrams, photo measurement, speed calculations and 2D simulation.
Because the software is our own, we can explain how every figure in a report was calculated. The inputs and results are set out in the report, so they can be checked by hand or with other software.
Scene diagrams
Scale plans built from survey points.
Photo measurement
Lengths and positions taken from images.
Speed calculations
Each result reported as a range.
2D simulation
Accounts of events tested against the marks.
Who we work with
Clients in Trinidad and Tobago who need an independent engineering view.
Attorneys
Expert reports for proceedings arising from road collisions. Early advice on what the physical evidence can establish, and review of reconstructions served by the other side.
Insurers and loss adjusters
Independent reconstruction where liability or the account of events is disputed. Speed and position findings stated with their uncertainty, so the decision rests on what is known.
Private clients
People who were involved in a collision and want an independent engineering assessment of how it happened.
Credentials
Vectis brings more than 15 years of engineering practice to collision reconstruction. The work is led by an engineer educated to first class honours standard who holds current membership of five engineering and science institutions. Every step of the method can be checked line by line, and full qualifications are set out in each report, where the court needs them.
- Engineering foundation
- The engineering science behind every reconstruction: statics and dynamics, mechanics of materials, mechanical analysis and design, and numerical methods.
- Analysis and simulation
- Multibody dynamics simulation, finite element analysis and 3D modelling, using CATIA, ADAMS, SolidWorks and ANSYS. Systems reliability methods where a vehicle defect may have played a part.
- Professional standing
- Current membership of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Institute of Physics, the Energy Institute, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Engineering Designers.
- Investigation
- Accident investigation, hazard analysis and fleet safety management. Forensic accounting and fraud examination, applied where a collision may have been staged or a claim is in question.
Contact
Enquiries by email: to be announced
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