A few weeks ago, Matt Enzler and I attended a training program related to the investigation and prosecution of Vehicular Homicide and Vehicular Assault cases.  The program was conducted in Spokane Valley at the Spokane County Sherriff’s Training Facility. There were Troopers from the WSP, Deputies from Spokane County, and several prosecutors from various eastern Washington counties and members of the Idaho State Police.  The focus of the training was on the reconstruction of the events that occurred just before the crash. Two vehicles were crashed and then examined as part of the training.

Vehicular Homicide and Vehicular Assault are charged when the death and injury of someone is caused by drinking and/or drugged driving. This is a huge problem.  Statistics show that there are more people killed each year in auto crashes than are killed by firearms. The vast majority of vehicle crashes are caused by drugged or drunk driving.

In many vehicles there is electronic information stored that can be a huge help in the investigation of vehicle crashes.  In late model vehicles, there is up to 25 seconds of information stored when an airbag is deployed.  Engineers and crash reconstruction technicians are able to download this information and software programs can produce graphs and figures that will show such information as the speed of the vehicle, the amount of throttle, engine rpm, brake application and other data.  This information, combined with weight figures, crush forces, the marks on the roadway, physical evidence from the scene, and the persons involved, can provide information that shows a lot about what was going on just before the crash.

The usefulness of this information is obvious.  It is of similar value in determining the cause of a vehicle crash as is the information in the flight data recorders that commercial airplanes carry valuable in determining the cause of airplane crashes. Getting all the information together and understanding it helps to find out the truth about what happened.

Once the truth is determined as much as possible, a correct decision about whether to charge a crime and what crime to charge can be made.