The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Good Practice Guidance
www.itai.org
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Institute AimsFounded in 1988
Promote the free and open exchange of knowledge and through this enhance expertise.
Promote a professional approach by encouraging honesty and integrity among investigators.
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Membership – worldwide
Police OfficersPrivate practitionersEngineersResearchersScientists
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Membership
Affiliate – open to anyone with an interest
Associate – unrelated qualifications or experience
Full Member – qualifications in Ai
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
MembershipThere is no ‘requirement’ to be a member of any
organisation to practice Accident Investigation
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Benefits
Conference - every other year
Journal - 3 times year
Newsletter - 6 times year
Lectures & field days
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Accident Investigation Training
Police collision investigators are trained to City & Guilds
Others - UCPD De Montfort University
Those from other specialisation areas will have ‘higher’ academic qualifications
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
The Investigation
Collision Occurs
Investigation commences
Information is gathered
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
The Investigation
Mechanics of how an investigation is conducted is largely dependant upon SIO (collision investigator & vehicle examiner)
• Road Death Investigation Manual (2007) &• ACPO Codes of Practice (2010 re-write)
(not mandatory)
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
The Collision Investigator Role
Capture all available evidence
Identify extent of scene
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
The Collision Investigator Role
• Interpret scene evidence
• Carry out any ‘testing’
• Examine Vehicles
• Driver related ‘issues’
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
The Collision Investigator Role
• Review the evidence
• Compile comprehensive report
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
The Investigation
How can we be confident our collision investigator is applying the most
appropriate methods and research to support the investigation?
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Checking & Verification• Used established methods & principles• Been impartial • Conclusions well founded • overall approach thorough• Explored other avenues• No ambiguous statements / phrasing• Made available all the references they used • Stayed within their limits (small cog)• Are their approximations reasonable • Alerted other agencies• Audit trailed their work
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Miscarriage of Justice
No accreditation scheme can prevent a thoroughly competent expert getting it
wrong on the day
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
• Individual ‘registered’ (not mandatory)
• Peer review of case files
• 4 years of registration then revalidation
• CPD maintained & current cases
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Codes of Practice and Conduct for Forensic Science Providers and Practitioners in the
Criminal Justice System
Applies to public, private practitioners whatever scope of science work prosecution or defence
“influence conduct”
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Legal requirements
• Duty to the Court
• Retain
• Record and
• Reveal
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Good Practice
Central point for anyone to look-up the most up to date research and
practices
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Exhibits
‘The art and science of packaging’
• protect evidence• minimise handling• labelling for continuity• proper use of packaging
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Pedestrian speedsHow long did it take the pedestrian to reach the collision point?
Research on Road Traffic 1965 or Eubanks 1998 or Tony Foster 2002 ?
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Mobile PhonesEveryone thinks they know about phones!
• Who should examine it?• How is it best examined?• The first examination may be the
only opportunity to collect evidence~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Competent to do so? Methods are fit for purpose? No change to data? Record or audit all of processes?
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Visibility of pedestrian / cyclists
Has the conspicuity of pedestrian and/or the cyclist been considered?
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Speed Assessments
Speed lost while skidding?
Critical speed cornering?
Equations of motion
Establish coefficient of friction between tyres and road surface
1. Skid tests
2. Range of values
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Scene Notes
Are notes taken at a scene sufficiently
comprehensive
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Reporting Defects
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Owner
Review Date
Few Pages
The Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators
Questions