Accident reconstruction isn’t just about vehicles and crash dynamics—it’s about understanding what happens to the human body during an impact. That’s where biomechanics comes in. In this Q&A, YA Group Biomechanist Meghan Zech explains how biomechanics helps uncover the forces acting on occupants, determine injury likelihood, and provide critical insights for forensic investigations.
Understanding the Role of Biomechanics in Accident Reconstruction
What exactly is Biomechanics in the context of forensic accident reconstruction investigation?
Biomechanics revolves around the structure and function of biological systems by studying forces and their effects. In other words, did a body part move in a way that is outside its normal form and function, and was the force on that body part higher than known thresholds, or what is seen in normal day-to-day activities?
Why is it important to include a biomechanist when reconstructing an accident?
Biomechanists determine occupant motion and the forces and accelerations acting on the body. Thus, they are able to establish the likelihood of injury, which is necessary for forensic personal injury cases.
As a biomechanist, what do you look for during an inspection?
As a certified Event Data Recorder (EDR) technician, downloading the vehicle data to acquire the change in velocity (delta-V) that the vehicle experienced during the accident is important evidence. If the vehicle remained untouched since the accident, looking for physical evidence is also beneficial. An example could be hair follicles or marks, suggesting an occupant’s head contacted an interior part of the vehicle.
What type of research do you use when investigating TBI accidents?
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tests vehicles to rate them in a variety of crashworthiness categories. The vehicles are equipped with crash dummies that have over one hundred sensors attached to them. Some of those sensors are located on the head, so the IIHS can measure head accelerations. We then compare those head accelerations to accepted reference values.
What are the benefits of reconstructing an accident?
In order to determine the forces and accelerations acting on an occupant’s body, it is vital to determine the forces and accelerations that the vehicle experienced. Thus, for motor vehicle accidents, the accident reconstruction always precedes the biomechanical analysis.
