Robert T. Lynch, P.E., Principal Collision Reconstruction Engineer

Case Summary: A fatal nighttime pedestrian collision occurred on a two lane, two-way roadway. The police investigation included gathering several videos from nearby businesses, none of which showed a direct view of the actual impact. Upon reviewing the videos, police tracked down a commercial vehicle and its operator as a person of interest for passing through the area around the time of the incident. 

The police inspected the tractor-trailer of interest and found no forensic evidence to link this vehicle to the impact with the pedestrian. The driver denied impacting anything that night, including a pedestrian in the roadway. The police were reluctant to believe the driver based on his actions caught on video when entering the nearby facility where he was making a delivery. The driver indicated that, when asked for his license plate number at the guard shack of the facility, he got out of his truck and walked to the front to provide his number. The police speculated that this action was the driver checking the front of his truck to see if there was any damage from striking the pedestrian.  

The case went to mediation, where multiple reports from experts for the decedent’s estate were provided to Defense counsel for the tractor-trailer and driver. Without any reliable scientific methodology to base their opinions on, the experts essentially agreed with the police conclusion, which placed blame on the commercial vehicle of interest. The expert reports were not previously disclosed, nor did the attorney for the Estate provide advanced warning to Defense counsel of these reports being prepared. Defense counsel adjourned the mediation before it started, then called upon DJS Associates to independently review the evidence and evaluate the police conclusions and Plaintiff’s experts’ opinions for accuracy. 

Expert Analysis: The videos provided from various camera locations were reviewed extensively by DJS engineers and video specialists to identify when the pedestrian impact occurred. Focus was placed on video from the camera nearest to the incident location, which had a partially obstructed view of the roadway due to foliage. This camera captured the tractor-trailer traveling through the area with no indication of it hitting an object in the roadway. However, unbeknownst to the police investigators and opposing experts, this camera view also captured the subject incident occurring approximately 5 minutes after the tractor-trailer passed through the area. At that point, the video showed a box truck traveling through the area with an object tumbling behind it on the ground before moving out of camera’s view, consistent with where the pedestrian came to rest. Given the location and tumbling nature of this object, it was concluded that this object was the deceased pedestrian.

Result: Defense filed a motion for summary judgement with the Court. The Court ruled that the opinions provided by the Estate’s experts were speculative, at best, summarizing their opinion to simply state that it was possible for the pedestrian to reach the area as the tractor-trailer passed through, without actually opining that the pedestrian did, in fact, reach the area at this time. Plaintiff’s experts provided no objective data or analysis to state with scientific certainty that the tractor-trailer of interest impacted the pedestrian. The motion for summary judgement was granted in favor of the Defense, and the case was dismissed.

Robert T. Lynch, P.E., Principal Collision Reconstruction Engineer with DJS Associates, Inc., can be reached via email at experts@forensicDJS.com or via phone at 215-659-2010.

Categories: Case Studies | Engineering

Tags: Pedestrian Impact | Surveillance Video | Tractor-Trailer