Knox & Associates can analyze all types of traffic crashes.

Knox & Associates is a full-service forensic consulting firm that serves attorneys, insurance companies, private investigation firms, police departments, prosecutors offices, and others with a need for traffic accident consultation. We can assist your traffic accident case by providing the following services:

• FULL ANALYSIS OF TRAFFIC CRASHES BEYOND THE POLICE REPORTS
• PHYSICAL INSPECTION & PHOTOGRAPHY OF THE SCENE & VEHICLES
• TECHNICAL & MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS OF THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
• INSPECTION & INTERPRETATION OF POLICE REPORTS
• LITIGATION SUPPORT FOR DEPOSITION AND CROSS-EXAMINATION PREPARATION
• TECHNICAL, & FACTUAL RESEARCH FOR CASE PREPARATION
• PREPARATION OF DEMONSTRATIVE EXHIBITS SUCH AS DIAGRAMS, VIDEOTAPES, & COMPUTER ANIMATIONS
• EXPERT TESTIMONY AS TO THE PHYSICS & DYNAMICS OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS
• CONSULTATION ON LEGAL STRATEGY INCLUDING HYPOTHETICALS

Knox & Associates will provide a comprehensive report on the findings of the reconstruction including a full technical analysis of the collision. We can provide hypothetical situations which could theoretically alter the outcome of a given collision in order to mitigate or aggravate liability.

Knox & Associates specializes in impaired driving cases. Firm founder Michael A. Knox was a police officer for over fifteen years and gained experience in hundreds of impaired driving investigations. Knox & Associates handles all types of traffic accident cases including those involving motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, and commercial motor vehicles.

This photograph shows a set of offset skid marks. These marks show the location of the vehicle when it was struck by another vehicle coming from the right. Skid marks are valuable pieces of physical evidence at a crash scene and must be documented as quickly as possible before they fade away.

Traffic accident reconstruction is a multidisciplinary process which involves both art and science to establish the events surrounding a traffic accident. The practice of traffic accident reconstruction requires both the technical knowledge of vehicle dynamics and the experience of dealing with actual traffic accident scenes. Knox & Associates brings you this expertise.

The expertise brought to you by Knox & Associates allows for testimony on the following factors:

• behavior and dynamics of vehicles
• interpretation of physical evidence
• pre-reaction vehicle speeds
• energy involved in creating vehicle damage
• occupant kinematics & injury mechanisms
• time-distance relationships
• perception-reaction
• visibility & conspicuity
• human behavior in traffic accidents
• drug & alcohol impairment
• if lights were on or off at time of impact
• tire failure involvement in accident

Knox & Associates is able to provide many services which may be of benefit to personal injury litigation:

• diagrams of traffic accident scenes
• photography of scenes and vehicles
• technical research
• vehicle processing
• comprehensive written reports

Knox & Associates can deal with many different types of accidents:

• single & multiple vehicle accidents
• motorcycle accidents
• pedestrian-involved accidents
• commercial motor vehicles
• impaired drivers
• low speed impacts

Knox & Associates can also use physical evidence to establish the positions of vehicles at the time of impact.

Using roadway evidence, it was determined that this motorcycle had been traveling between 35 and 38 miles per hour when its operator lost control causing serious injury.

Based on the available physical evidence, Knox & Associates may determine the speeds of vehicles using the following methods:

• skid mark analysis
• critical speed scuff mark analysis
• vehicle rollover analysis
• airborne vehicle analysis
• energy methods/vehicle damage
• conservation of linear momentum
• pedestrian dynamics & injuries
• motorcycle sliding & tumbling distances

Using the calculated speeds of vehicles, Knox & Associates can determine the time-distance relationships of the involved vehicles and use that information to play hypothetical scenarios to determine what would have happened had a certain factor been different. For example, it may be determined that an accident could have been avoided had a vehicle not been speeding. Knox & Associates might also determine that a driver could have swerved to avoid striking a pedestrian in the roadway.

Speckling on this tire indicates that heavy braking was applied prior to impact.

The stock-in-trade of a traffic accident reconstructionist is physical evidence. Drivers are not always truthful, and witnesses can be wrong. Properly interpreted, however, physical evidence does not lie. Knox & Associates can determine what role a particular piece of evidence played in an accident. Knox & Associates can also explain to a jury how the physical evidence affects the reconstruction of an accident.

This tire suffered a tread and belt separation in which the entire tread and outer breaker peeled off of the tire while the vehicle was in motion. The tire is still inflated.

Tire failure cases have become a significant issue in personal injury claims. Knox & Associates can investigate these failures and provide expert testimony as to their cause, as well as their effect on a traffic crash.

Tire failures became a big issue in the late 90's when a number of Firestone and other tires suffered a type of failure known as a tread and belt separation. When this failure occurs, the tread peels off of the tire and often brings with it one or more layers (known as breakers) of the belt. Generally, these breakers are wrapped around the tire such that the two inner breakers produce lateral forces on the tire in opposite directions. When both inner breakers are in place, these forces counteract one another. However, when the outter and middle breakers are peeled away during a tread and belt separation, the inner breaker produces tremendous later forces on the tire. These forces are what result in accidents, particularly when the tire is on the rear where it creates oversteer that the driver cannot control. When a high-center-of-mass vehicle such as a sport utility vehicle is involved, rollover is likely to occur.

This headlight bulb was on at the time of the crash. The stretched and twisted filament denotes a phenomenon known as "hot shock". Also note the blue coloring on the posts, which is caused when the heated tungsten metal of the filament comes into contact with oxygen from the air. This coloration indicates that the glass envelope was broken while the lamp was still on.

Vehicle lamps can provide solid evidence as to whether or not a specific light was on during a collision. Knox & Associates can evaluate a vehicle's lamps and provide a report as to the on/off status of those lamps at the time of the collision. Knox & Associates can also take close-up photographs that can be presented in court.

Through the analysis of occupant kinematics, the identity of this impaired driver was established.

The movement of a vehicle’s occupants during a collision can be an important issue in traffic accident litigation. The mechanics of physical injury require that some force produced that injury. By studying the occupant kinematics of an accident, Knox & Associates can determine such issues as seating positions and the possibility of injury.

The impaired driver operating this pickup truck crossed the centerline and killed a motorcyclist.

Drug and alcohol impairment is a serious issue for traffic accident injury litigation. With experience in hundreds of impaired driving cases, Knox & Associates brings you the highest level of expertise in DUI-related crashes. Testimony about the behavior of impaired drivers can aid litigation.

Desktop analysis can be used to determine when an insurance claim is fraudulent, such as this case in which an insured claimed injuries that were much more serious than this minor, low-speed sideswipe could have caused.

Desktop analysis can be used to assess traffic accident injury and damage claims for consistency between the physical evidence and the claimed injury. There are many cases of insurance fraud including such practices as staging collisions, reporting minor collisions as being much more severe than they really were, and creating or adding to existing damage. Such fraudulent claims can often be recognized readily by an expert examining photographs, recorded statements, and police reports. This type of analysis can usually be accomplished within a few hours.

This is a three-dimensional model that was made from photographs of a damaged vehicle. It was used to analyze the crush damage done to an accident vehicle several years prior. The vehicle was no longer available, but photographs taken a short time after the crash were used to create this model.

Knox & Associates can use PhotoModeler photogrammetry software to obtain measurements from photographs. Vehicle damage models can be obtained from as few as two photographs taken from different angles. Skid marks on a roadway surface can be measured with as few as one photograph taken with an unknown camera. This software can also be used with a calibrated camera to enhance the quality of measurements taken of an accident vehicle, particularly large vehicles such as tractor-trailers that are not easily measured by hand.

Aerial photographs can help show the layout of a roadway.

Knox & Associates can provide aerial photographs of a location to help illustrate the layout of a roadway to the jury.