SPECIAL REPORT: A deep dive into how YPD reconstructs accidents
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - It could be a normal day heading to work, or a quick trip to the grocery store before it instantly turns into your unlucky day.
One big mistake, could cost a life.
News 11's April Hettinger I had the opportunity to ride with traffic investigator Melina Torres of the Yuma Police Department (YPD) in the moment they were dispatched to an injury accident.
"I'll ask the drivers what happened, if they were wearing their seatbelts which is a very important thing to ask, how fast they were going, if they were distracted by something or not," Torres explained.
Car manufacturers have an Electronic Data Recorder which is able to capture a 20 to 80 page report, detailing if seatbelts were latched, but on-scene evidence can give investigators that information right away.
"We can check if the seat belt is loose, it's because they were wearing their seat belts," Torres stated. "Sometimes, if the airbags deployed, the seat belt will lock and we can see that it was loose so they were wearing it. If it's close to the B-pillar, if it's just like very tight, that could be a possibility that they were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the collision."
In many cases, drivers point the finger at each other.
"If on the roadway there's skid marks, I can determine, 'oh, this vehicle was traveling in lane number one,' and if he tells me, 'no, I was traveling in lane number two,' I can go back to my evidence and tell him or her, 'this is where your vehicle was positioned because I have the evidence,' or I have debris from your vehicle, or scuff marks on the roadway that show the vehicle was traveling in that lane," Torres said.
Technology is also useful because it's difficult for drivers to argue with hard evidence.
"We've moved to, which is now 3D documentation using the FARO scanner that we use, and that gives you a 360-degree field of view," according to traffic unit detective Chad Williams. "You can take measurements from that. It's a one-man operated unit."
Investigations before this modern technology weren't all that easy, even as early as the 90s.
"When I first started, all we had was a traffic wheel and basically a can of paint, and we had to do everything by hand," Williams explained. "We had to walk the road."
Now the FARO appears at crash scenes to conduct seven or 15-minute scans.
"We document basically the outer perimeter of the accident scene, and we'll get the close up scans of damaged vehicles or skid marks or evidence that we see at the scene," Williams said.
Then, it moves further into the chain of investigations with Xenia Baros-Castellanos, traffic public safety technician.
"I will look at all of the evidence and see what are we missing," Baros-Castellanos explained. "Is there surveillance footage that we haven't recovered yet? Is there anybody that hasn't been talked to? Is there anybody that needs to be interviewed?"
If there's something missing, 78-Crime tips are always taken into consideration.
"Community's help is very important," Baros-Castellanos stated. "We don't have eyes everywhere, and with the community, we can solve a lot of these hit and runs or cases that we don't have much information for."
As for the FARO, it generates a 3D computer image that can verify drivers' line of sight and distances.
Much of the thorough investigation is dependent on mathematical formulas.
"When we have a motorcycle accident, we can measure the distance the rider was thrown from the motorcycle at the time of the impact and that will tell us how fast, depending also... we calculate the motorcycle's weight and the rider's weight, and we determine how fast the motorcycle was going," Torres explained.
The moral of the story is don't be rushed and be considerate of others on the road.
"You know, a lot of times, everyone's in a hurry. Everyone's in a hurry to get to their next meal, their date. Just take your time. Slow down," Baros-Castellanos stated. "Speeding has been a big deal around here. I would say take your time. It's important to get their safely than to not get there at all."
Breaking traffic laws could put you or someone else's life at risk. Although crash investigations are fascinating, you don't want to be center stage in one of these.
