Question: In August 2008, my wife and kids were driving east along Trafalgar Road. They were in a 2004 Nissan in the right lane. As soon as they went through the traffic lights where this road intersects with Knutsford Boulevard, and on reaching near the entrance to the British High Commission, a Toyota Corolla motor car hit the right rear of my wife's vehicle. The bumper and other sections of the car were damaged. Our insurers declared the vehicle a total loss and settled the claim under our comprehensive policy. The third party is contending that our car was making an illegal turn. What should our next move be? Will we lose our no-claims bonus?

- whitsoso@yahoo.com

Answer: I referred your case to my friend Mike Webster from Advanced Insurance Adjusters. He specialises in traffic-accident reconstruction.

His job is to find out the most probable cause of accidents. He uses all kinds of information and computer technology to arrive at a conclusion. These include drivers' and witnesses' statements, photos, skid marks, roadway factors, and the laws of physics. He analyses the dynamics of the mishap in order to find out how it took place.

Put more simply: he uses what can be loosely called a scientific approach to probe the causes of traffic accidents. Word-of-mouth alone, he believes, is often unreliable.

Your word picture of the accident was not enough for my friend to find out what happened, or who caused it.

Like most experts, he is hungry for data. He says that he needs to get more information before he can offer an opinion about your wife's accident. He used Google Earth to make a virtual visit to the scene of the accident.

The graphic with this article, courtesy of Gleaner Associate Heather Kong, is intended to show what the scene probably looked like when the two cars collided. It is based on what you said.

Mike observed: "There is a raised concrete median separating the east-and west-bound lanes of the roadway. On the part of that road going past the high commission, there are two lanes. If your wife's vehicle was in the right lane, did the vehicle behind it ride the concrete median to collide with the right rear of her vehicle? Did the left front of that vehicle strike the right rear of her car? Did she make an unexpected stop while in the centre of the road to turn left, or did she travel to the end of the median to make a right turn?"

These are reasonable questions.

contributory negligence

In the absence of more information, it is not clear who caused the accident. It could be the third party, or the third party and your wife. Although the general rule is that the car at the rear in a rear-end collision is usually at fault, there may be what lawyers call contributory negligence on the part of the car at the front that your wife was driving.

My suspicions are that your insurers and the third party's are in a dispute about the cause of the collision. It is even likely that your insurers believe that your wife was partly to blame but have not told her so.

The dispute could have been avoided. Had your insurer and the third party's recognised in August 2008 that the 'horse and buggy methods' that they normally use to determine liability were not appropriate for the 21st century, they would have reconstructed your accident.

This would have involved an actual - not virtual - site visit to undertake a point-of-impact analysis, including the pre-impact and post-impact tyre marks, the taking of photographs to establish the layout and perspective of the scene, and the examination of the damage to the two vehicles.

The statements of the drivers and witnesses would also be examined to see if they agreed with the physical evidence. Once the exercise was completed, a conclusion could have been made with a reasonable degree of certainty about who had caused the collision.

The scene of a collision is much like a crime scene. Evidence tends to disappear as time passes. Your insurers' decision not to use 'science' 12 months ago probably means that your wife will end up losing her no-claims discount. She is likely to pay more premiums over the next several years.

Your next move? Start saving extra money to pay your insurance premium. Bear in mind for the future that 'horse and buggy days' are done!

Cedric E. Stephens provides independent information and advice about the management of risks and insurance. For free information or counsel, email: aegis@cwjamaica.com or send text (SMS) message to 812-7233.