Expert Services

The term “forensic” is an adjective, which means that our reports and investigations have been prepared in a manner suitable for presentation at court.

A more familiar term for a forensic expert or forensic engineer is an Expert Witness.

An expert witness applies the principles of science, physics, mathematics, engineering and testing to investigations, which are part of, or potentially a part of, a legal process.

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Accident Analysis & Investigations: Physical evidence, witness evidence, vehicles involved, road layout & geometry, weather conditions, vehicle dynamics and driver behaviour.

Accident Reconstruction: Tyre, grind & slide marks, pedestrian throw distance, speed and movement of pedestrians, coefficient of friction, driver reaction times, mass of vehicles, vehicle performance, vehicle test data and position of vehicles at impact can all be modelled mathematically in combination with the fundamental laws of motion in order to determine speeds and a reconstruction of events.

Vehicle & component examination: The accident vehicles and their component parts can be examined for any defects or failures. This can assist in discovering why a particular accident occurred. Any type and size of vehicle can be examined including LGV's, cars, motorcycles, heavy plant machinery and pedal cycles.

Surveying & Scale Plans: We operate the latest electronic total station surveying equipment producing professional computer generated scale plans of accident scenes and crime scenes. Scale representations of vehicles can be shown in relation to physical and witness evidence in order to show the position of vehicles at impact and ultimately a visual reconstruction of the accident.

Photographs & Video: Standard and digital technology is utilised to illustrate road markings, geometry, topography, signing, lines of sight, limits of visibility, positions of witnesses, pre & post impact movement of vehicles / pedestrians, vehicle damage & defects.

Forensic Tachograph analysis: Microscopic analysis, route traces, driver's hours & regulations. Our expert in this field comes from a very experienced background including air accident investigation, driving 38T Large goods vehicles, operating his own haulage company and Tachograph Analysis Bureau. In that time Mr Coltman, on average, analysed over 1000 Tachograph charts per week, which equates to a career total in excess of ¾ million charts. In addition, Mr Coltman wrote his own computer software for chart analysis and report production writing an 'industry standard' book on the interpretation and application of the EC hour's regulations. Mr Coltman continues to act as an advisor on interpretation and application of ERC hour's regulations to one of the main analysis bureaux in the UK. Mr Coltman has been accepted as an expert witness during Court proceedings in all levels of Court. Mr Coltman now operates as a Consultant in all aspects of Tachograph construction, function, calibration, installation and testing of Tachograph recording equipment, chart analysis and route tracing to forensic level using a calibrated microscope. Speed of vehicle movement, taken second by second from speed trace, is logged and translated into distance and acceleration (+/-) rates using standard velocity formula. These figures can then be applied logically to each situation with an aim of adducing what did happen, what did not happen and what could have happened.

Forensic stolen vehicle examinations: Testing by examination of the prosecution evidence. Deleting / retrieving VIN and engine numbers. Dating of components, dating of vehicle glass, consideration of evidence. In cases alleging vehicle ringing and handling (including conspiracy), the prosecution evidence normally centres on the examination and conclusions drawn by the Police vehicle examiner or Stolen Vehicle Squad Officer. We are able to fully test those findings and conclusions, offering where possible alternative explanations. All examinations are undertaken by a Forensic stolen vehicle examiner with 20 years experience in this specialist field.

Speed detection devices: Trained in all aspects concerning Police speed detection devices including Vascar, Muniquip radar, Police Pilot & Laser LTI 20-20. Our experts can test the accuracy of the speed checks, procedures and circumstances under which they were conducted.