How Accident Reconstruction Is Used in Georgia Car Accident Cases
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Accident reconstruction uses the physical evidence of a crash (vehicle damage, final positions, road marks, debris, vehicle data, and video) to work out speeds, positions, timing, and sequence. In a Georgia case, a reconstructionist’s opinion reaches the jury only if the judge finds it reliable under O.C.G.A. § 24-7-702, and it is only as strong as the evidence preserved for it. The duty to preserve that evidence can arise before any lawsuit is filed.
What reconstruction answers
| Question | Evidence a reconstructionist uses |
|---|---|
| How fast was each vehicle going? | Event data recorder readings, crush measurements, road marks, video timing |
| Did the driver brake, and when? | Event data recorder pre-crash data, road marks |
| Where was the point of impact? | Debris, gouges, fluid trails, final rest positions |
| Could the driver have seen and avoided the other vehicle? | Sight lines, lighting, perception-reaction analysis, road geometry |
| What was the signal phase? | Video, signal timing records, witnesses |
The questions matter because fault turns on whether each driver used ordinary care, and some rules, such as following distance under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-49, depend on speed and conditions rather than a fixed number. How the jury uses those answers is explained in how fault is determined in Georgia car accidents.
The reliability test
Under § 24-7-702(b), the opinion must be “based upon sufficient facts or data”, “the product of reliable principles and methods”, and the result of reliably applying those methods “to the facts of the case.” In a civil case, a challenge to the expert must be heard and decided no later than the final pretrial conference (§ 24-7-702(d)). The test and the other kinds of experts are explained in expert witnesses in Georgia car accident cases.
Evidence disappears; the duty to keep it
Vehicles are repaired or scrapped, data can be overwritten, and video systems recycle. Georgia’s spoliation rule addresses what happens when a party lets relevant evidence go. In Phillips v. Harmon (2015), as restated in Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. v. Koch (2018), the Supreme Court of Georgia held that “the duty to preserve relevant evidence must be viewed from the perspective of the party with control of the evidence and is triggered not only when litigation is pending but when it is reasonably foreseeable to that party.” A letter is one way litigation becomes foreseeable, but not the only one. Destroying evidence after that point “may give rise to the rebuttable presumption that the evidence would have been harmful to the spoliator” (Phillips).
Practical steps follow from that rule:
- Keep your own vehicle unrepaired until it is inspected and its data downloaded, if the claim may need reconstruction.
- Send written preservation requests to the other driver, the owner, any employer, and businesses with cameras.
- Photograph the scene, the vehicles, and the road soon after the crash.
- Record where the vehicles are being stored.
Since Senate Bill 68, a motion to dismiss filed before the answer can pause discovery until the court rules, which makes preservation before or at filing more important, as explained in how to file a car accident lawsuit in Georgia. When a defect in a vehicle or part may have caused the crash, the vehicle is also the key evidence against the manufacturer, as explained in vehicle defect liability in Georgia car accidents.
Sources
- O.C.G.A. § 24-7-702 (text of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, November 2022 release); § 40-6-49.
- Phillips v. Harmon, 297 Ga. 386 (2015)
- Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. v. Koch, 303 Ga. 336 (2018)
This page describes Georgia law as of October 2026 for general information. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.