Services
Document a loss
Support a claim
For carriers and employers
Service areas
Middle Tennessee
- Nashville
- Clarksville
- Murfreesboro
- Franklin
- Hendersonville
- Smyrna
- Spring Hill
- Gallatin
- Lebanon
- Columbia
- Brentwood
- Mount Juliet
- La Vergne
- Cookeville
East Tennessee
West Tennessee
Interstate and Highway Accident Documentation in Tennessee
Interstate crash scenes are cleared quickly to reopen lanes, and what remains is spread along the shoulder and median. Delator Claims Division documents that remaining evidence and the highway itself for carriers, motor carriers, attorneys and drivers across Tennessee.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
On a limited-access highway the priority after a crash is to get traffic moving. Vehicles are dragged to the shoulder, debris is swept aside, and the lanes reopen, often before any party has taken a photograph beyond the damage to their own car. The evidence that survives is at the margins: tire marks running onto the shoulder, gouges in the lane, scrapes and transfer on a barrier, torn turf in the median, and fluid stains where vehicles sat.
Location is the second problem. A report may give a mile marker and direction, and the parties may each recall a different exit. Our investigators fix the scene by mile marker, GPS coordinates and distance to the nearest ramp gore, bridge or overhead sign, then document each feature along the collision path. On neutral assignments we record conditions and measurements and do not determine which driver changed lanes, followed too closely or caused the crash.
Highway collisions where a field record helps
- A sideswipe or lane-change collision at speed where each driver says the other left their lane.
- A crash in a merge area where the length of the acceleration lane and the view back toward traffic are in question.
- A vehicle struck a median or roadside barrier and the carrier needs the contact points recorded before the barrier is repaired.
- A tractor-trailer and a passenger car collided and both the motor carrier and the car's insurer want one neutral scene record.
- A chain-reaction crash in slowed traffic near an exit, lane drop or grade, where the order of impacts is disputed.
What we document on a highway scene
- Mile-marker and ramp references
- The scene tied to the nearest mile marker, exit number, ramp gore, overpass and overhead sign, with direction of travel and lane count stated.
- Marks leaving the travel lanes
- Tire marks, yaw marks and gouges traced from the lane across the rumble strip and shoulder, with start and end points measured from the edge line.
- Barrier and guardrail contact
- Scrapes, paint transfer, bent posts, displaced cable or cracked concrete, with the height and length of contact and its distance from a fixed reference.
- Median and roadside path
- Furrows through grass, struck delineators and signs, embankment slope, and the point where a vehicle stopped or re-entered the road.
- Ramp and merge geometry
- Length of acceleration and deceleration lanes, taper points, lane drops and the view available to a merging driver looking back at the mainline.
- Shoulder debris field
- Vehicle parts, glass and cargo fragments swept to the shoulder, photographed in place with their spread measured along the roadway.
From request to delivered record
- RequestCall dispatch or submit the request form with the location, loss type and urgency.
- DeployDispatch assigns the nearest available licensed field investigator through the statewide network.
- DocumentPhotographs, video, measurements and factual notes are captured once the scene is safe to work.
- PreserveFiles are timestamped, organized and kept in their original form with a record of who captured them.
- ReportThe package is delivered securely to the requesting party, typically the same day.
Working a scene that traffic has already reclaimed
Interstate evidence is perishable in its own way. Heavy traffic polishes tire marks out of the lanes within days. Maintenance crews replace damaged guardrail and cable barrier, mow the median and clear the shoulder. Because of that, the first visit matters more here than at a quiet intersection. Our investigators work from the shoulder and from points beyond the barrier, do not stop or direct traffic, and use driver-perspective video recorded while traveling with traffic to show the approach.
The vehicles usually leave the scene for a tow yard, sometimes in another county. Documenting them on the same assignment connects barrier contact heights and transfer colors to specific vehicles. Many highways also have traffic cameras and nearby commercial cameras at interchanges. Requesters should not assume that footage was recorded or retained. We note which cameras face the scene so that a preservation request, if one is appropriate, can be sent quickly by the carrier or attorney.
Lane position and sequence are the central questions
At highway speed, small differences in position decide who is held responsible. Sideswipe claims turn on which vehicle crossed the lane line. Rear-end chains turn on which impact came first. Merge collisions turn on whether the entering driver had room and a view. The physical record that bears on those points includes the first gouge or debris concentration, the angle of marks relative to lane lines, and the location of barrier strikes. We record each with measurements so others can work from them.
Commercial vehicles add further sources, such as electronic logs, engine data and onboard cameras, which are obtained by the parties and not by us on a neutral assignment. Delator personnel have accident reconstruction experience, and a scene record prepared with that in mind tends to capture what an analyst later needs. Technical findings, when requested as a separate service, describe how the collision occurred. They do not decide legal fault, which remains with the carriers, counsel and the court.
On this assignment Delator field personnel record what is physically present: photographs, video, measurements and factual notes. They do not adjust, appraise or value the loss, do not determine coverage, cause or fault, and do not represent any party to the claim.
Delator Claims Division is not a law firm, an insurer or an engineering firm, and nothing on this page is legal advice.
Common questions about this service
The lanes were cleared within an hour. What can still be found?
Frequently a good deal. Marks on the shoulder, barrier damage, median furrows and debris swept to the roadside often remain for days. The investigator walks the shoulder for the full length of the collision path and records what is present, with the date and time of the visit.
How do you locate the exact spot on a long stretch of interstate?
We start from the mile marker and direction in the crash report or your description, then look for physical traces. The location is recorded by GPS coordinates and measured distance to fixed features, so that anyone returning later can find the same point.
Can you get traffic camera video of the crash?
We can identify cameras that face the scene and report who appears to operate them. Whether any recording exists is up to the operator, and a request for it normally comes from the carrier or an attorney. Time matters, so we report camera locations the same day when asked.
How quickly can an investigator reach a rural interstate segment?
All 95 counties are covered. Average response is under 60 minutes in metro areas, and every location falls within the four-hour statewide deployment guarantee. The deployment map shows the typical tier for each county, and dispatch is staffed day and night.
Available statewide, including
Every Tennessee county is covered. See the deployment map for typical response tiers by county.
Request documentation anywhere in Tennessee
Dispatch is staffed around the clock. For time-sensitive scenes, calling is fastest; the request form works for routine and scheduled assignments.