How We Perform a Motorcycle Accident Investigation

As part of our investigation, we want to see the vehicles involved, including your bike and the other party’s vehicle. Damage to a car or truck may indicate how badly the motorcyclist was hit – such as a windshield smashed by a rider’s body.
Many recent model passenger cars and trucks have a computerized Event Data Recorder (EDR). The EDR records information, including the vehicle’s speed, speed changes, the rate of speed changes, whether the driver applied brakes, wore their seatbelt, or if airbags deployed.

A crashed car’s EDR data can be downloaded to provide information about the driver’s actions before and at the time of a crash. However, it is the car owner’s property, and we usually have to obtain a court order for access to the EDR. Obtaining this order is not difficult, but we must do it promptly. A car can be sold or scrapped, or the data can be overwritten in a drivable vehicle.

A crashed car may also contain other evidence, such as a receipt indicating the recent purchase of alcohol or takeout food or even empties from the driver’s drinking and eating while driving.

We obtain statements from the other driver and any passengers and bystanders who witnessed the accident as part of our investigation. Once again, this is best done soon after an accident, before memories fade or become confused. We obtain the police report filed in your accident and follow up with the law enforcement officer if necessary, following the court case if police brought charrges against the driver.

Beyond interviewing the other driver, we investigate their prior activities, which may be related to the crash. For example, cell phone data, which also requires a court order to obtain, may indicate a distracted driver at the time of the crash or, through geographic data, a fatigued driver who had traveled a long distance over a lengthy period.

In complex accidents, another person we bring into the case is an accident reconstruction specialist. This forensic engineering expert can use the evidence gathered and their own investigative work to develop a thorough technical understanding of your accident. Their multi-media report and, if necessary, courtroom presentation can provide critical information about how an accident occurred.

In some cases, the evidence we collect leads us to identify additional people who may be held liable. A common “third party” claim is against a store or bar employee or a party host who sold or served alcohol to a drunk driver. In other cases, the employer of a driver traveling for business may be liable for their employee’s crash.