There are any number of ways to figure out what happened in an auto accident.

One can take the depositions of everyone involved and try to piece the truth out of differing versions.

Or one can call an expert such as Joe Atherton, President of Accident Technologies in Chester.

"The purpose of my work is to provide the insurance company or the attorney with a basis of where they stand in the case," he said. "For instance, should they settle? Do they have a case?"

Atherton is a crash investigator with 10 years of experience under his belt who deals mainly with any type of vehicle accident- and determines "what went where, when and how," along with finding who's at fault, what the contributing factors were in the accident and why it happened.

He works for insurance companies, risk managers and attorneys and does some consulting work for police departments.

"First, we find out if they have a case," he said. "We review files with the attorney and the insurance company. We'll look at several cases, but we don't take every one."

Once they determine if there is a case, Atherton said they will testify in court. However, he has experienced difficulty with getting testimony admitted.

"In all other states this is easy to do, but in Virginia it's harder- but it's getting better," he said. "The admissibility issue is important. An attorney might be reluctant [to hire an accident technologist] because they might think the courts won't let the testimony in court, but they have to lay a foundation. We're also there because an attorney has to know how and what happened so they can either settle or try the case."

To do this, a trip to the accident scene is necessary- whether the scene is two hours or two years old, Atherton said. Once they're at the scene, they shoot the area with a piece of equipment called a "total station," a method of surveying with a laser, rather than using the old tape measure method.

From the total station, they get a drawing of the area with measurements of curves, grade, elevation and length of skid marks, he said. Skid marks will give them an idea of the vehicle's speed, but Atherton said they also consider time and distance factors, along with momentum, crush and whether or not something went airborne in this calculation.

"We always [go out] to a scene, and we'll look at the [involved] cars if they are available or get police photographs if they're on file," he said. Once they have photos of vehicles, they can scan the picture into the total station drawing and get a scale drawing of the accident scene.

"After all the information is gathered, calculations are performed," Atherton said. In Virginia, the time-distance calculation is needed, but he has had luck in getting perception/ reaction time calculations and information on skid marks admitted in court.

"We'll also look at avoidability factors," he said. "For instance, how much time and distance did a person have when someone pulled in front of him? How much time and distance did he have to react?"

Although the calculations they perform are precise, Atherton said the opinion he provides isn't.

"Speeds are not precise," he said. "I give a range that I feel comfortable with and that I can live with in court."

While Atherton is an auto accident technician, there are several other types also doing this kind of work, like engineers and reconstructionists, that might have a different spin on what happened at a particular accident scene.

"I'm not an engineer," he said. "[An engineer's] numbers are accurate but his interpretation is faulty. You have to go to the accident scene. He hasn't worked an accident- I've worked 10-12,000 accidents. It's important to know what to look for and what the marks [at the scene] mean. Marks can tell a complete story.

"It's important to know what you can do and can't do," he said. "I won't do something that I don't feel confident about. It's important to know your limitations."

Right now, there are only two people with full-time businesses in the state for accident technology. But it's important that an accident technician be certified because it keeps a degree of professionalism- you know that the other person you go against in court will know what they're talking about."

Type of Action- Nuisance- Against a municipality
Type of Injuries- Ruptured aorta, closed head injury requiring evacuation of a subarachnoid hemorrhage, brain damage
Name of Case- Almond v. City of Virginia Beach
Court-Case No.- Virginia Beach Circuit Court/ CL97-2482
Judge/Jury- Jury
Name of Judge- The Honorable Frederick B. Lowe
Special Damages- $61,441.72 past medicals, $4,500.00 property damage
Awarded or Settled- Settled after four days of trial during jury deliberations
Attorney for Plaintiff- Thomas J. Harlan, Jr. and John M. Flora, Norfolk
Insurance Carrier- Self-insured municipality
Other Useful Information-
This case arose out of an automobile accident at the corner of Coach Lane and Great Neck Road in Virginia Beach. At approximately 9:00 pm on a Sunday evening, Raymond C. Almond, III, a 17-year-old with one month's driving experience, was driving home from his sister's house. As he traveled down Coach Lane towards its intersection with Great Neck Road, a major intersection in Virginia Beach, he failed to see a stop sign and was broadsided by a van traveling at approximately 45 MPH. Mr. Almond sustained a ruptured aorta and a closed head injury. A ruptured aorta is typically a fatal injury because the victim usually exanguinates prior to reaching the hospital. Despite the fact that Mr. Almond had to be cut from his vehicle due to the extensive damage, he made it to Virginia Beach General Hospital in time for emergency cardiothoracic surgery. A Dacron graft was place don his aorta to make the repair. Approximately 58 days later, Mr. Almond suffered a massive bleed over his brain due to the closed head injury suffered in the accident and had to undergo emergency brain surgery to evacuate the blood clot. Fortunately, he survived both procedures.

Mr. Almond alleged that the City of Virginia Beach was liable for his injuries because it negligently created and maintained a nuisance. A nuisance is any condition which imperils the public's safety. In this case, the nuisance was a Japanese Black Pine Tree growing on city property at the intersection of Coach Lane and Great Neck Road. Mr. Almond has no recollection of the events immediately prior to the accident and could not testify that he failed to see the sign because the tree blocked his vision.

The plaintiff engaged Joe Atherton, an accident reconstructionist, of Accident Technology and Engineering, Inc., to make perception/reaction calculations based upon a survey of the intersection. Mr. Atherton testified that traveling at 25 MPH, the speed limit on Coach Lane, at 40 feet, the point where stop sign is first visible to a motorist approaching the intersection, it would take 84.9 feet for a motorist to perceive, react, and bring his-her vehicle to a stop. This would have place Mr. Almond 40 feet into the intersection before he could stop his car.

The City of Virginia Beach defended on the grounds that Mr. Almond was inattentive as he approached the intersection and disputed the extent of this injuries. The plaintiff's experts testified that Mr. Almond suffered global brain damage and although his neuropsychological testing was normal, his short-term memory has been devastated, he suffered from dysthymia (mild depression) and his prognosis for the future was grave due to the massive loss of grey matter damaged by the presence of the blood clot. The defendant's experts attributed all of Mr. Almond's complaints to Attention Defecit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Four days of testimony and evidence were presented and the case went to the jury. After approximately 1 1/2 hours of deliberations, the parties settled for a confidential amount. [98-T660]