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
Pedestrian Collision Reconstruction Support
Field documentation of vehicle-pedestrian collisions for insurers, attorneys, families and drivers. Personnel with accident reconstruction experience record vehicle contact points, the pedestrian's rest location, lighting conditions and crossing geometry so that an analyst can study the event afterward.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
When a vehicle strikes a person there is often very little damage and almost no roadway evidence. A dent in a hood, a cracked windshield corner, a scuff on a bumper cover and a shoe mark on the pavement may be all there is. The questions that follow are about where the pedestrian was when struck, how far they were carried or thrown, and what the driver could see. Each depends on details that are easy to miss.
Delator Claims Division documents the vehicle, the location and the lighting. Field personnel are licensed Tennessee private investigators with accident reconstruction experience. The record is neutral: it describes contact evidence, distances and conditions, and it does not state whether the driver or the pedestrian was at fault, how fast the vehicle was travelling, or whether anyone had the right of way. Those questions are for the requesting party and its analyst.
Typical pedestrian collision requests
- A pedestrian was struck at night away from a crosswalk and the lighting along that block has not been recorded.
- The driver reports the pedestrian stepped out from between parked vehicles and the view from the lane needs documenting.
- The vehicle shows hood and windshield contact and is about to be repaired by the owner's body shop.
- Accounts differ on which direction the pedestrian was crossing and where in the lane the contact happened.
- A crosswalk signal was involved and its pedestrian phase and button operation have not been observed and timed.
Contact, distance and visibility evidence
- Vehicle contact points
- Bumper scuffs, grille and hood dents, wiper and windshield damage and roof contact, each measured for height above ground and offset from the vehicle centerline.
- Wrap and carry evidence
- Cloth wipe marks, cleaned dust paths and fabric or hair transfer on the hood and glass that show how the pedestrian moved over the vehicle.
- Rest location and throw distance
- The pedestrian's rest position from responder marks, staining or witness indication, measured from the area of impact along the vehicle's direction of travel.
- Lighting at the reported hour
- Streetlight positions and which lamps are working, storefront and sign lighting, and ambient conditions photographed at the same time of day as the collision.
- Crossing geometry
- Crosswalk markings, curb ramps, median refuges, lane count and widths, bus stops and the distance to the nearest marked or signalized crossing.
- Driver's approach view
- Photographs from driver eye height at measured distances back from the area of impact, showing parked vehicles, vegetation, poles and grade.
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.
What contact points and throw distance indicate
The pattern of contact on the vehicle shows how the collision unfolded. A low bumper mark with a hood dent and windshield strike indicates the pedestrian was carried onto the vehicle, while contact confined to the front face suggests a different motion. The lateral position of the marks shows how far across the front the pedestrian had travelled when struck, which an analyst can relate to walking direction and to how long the person had been in the lane.
The distance between the area of impact and where the pedestrian came to rest is one of the main inputs for evaluating vehicle speed in these collisions, and it is only as good as the two points that define it. Shoe scuffs, dropped belongings, and the start of any tire marks help locate the first point. Responder markings and staining help locate the second. Delator measures and records both with their sources and leaves the analysis to the analyst.
Lighting and geometry have to be recorded as they were
Many pedestrian collisions happen in darkness, and what a driver could see is often the central dispute. Streetlights burn out and are replaced, businesses change their signs, and trees are trimmed. A record made soon after the collision, at the same hour and in similar weather, notes which fixtures were lit and photographs the approach with camera settings recorded. Photographs cannot reproduce exactly what an eye sees, and the notes say so, but they fix the conditions for later study.
Geometry is equally important. The length of the crossing, the presence of a median, the position of a bus stop and the distance to the nearest signal all describe the choices available to the pedestrian and the time needed to cross. Signal timing, where a signal exists, is observed and timed from the sidewalk rather than taken from agency records, which the requesting party can ask for separately. Delator reports these facts without drawing conclusions about either person's conduct.
Delator personnel have accident reconstruction experience. The work product is physical evidence and technical findings; it does not determine legal fault, which remains with the parties, the court or a jury.
Delator Claims Division is not an engineering firm. Whether any analysis is accepted in a proceeding is decided by the court.
Common questions about this service
The vehicle has very little damage. Is it still worth documenting?
Yes. Light marks are typical in pedestrian collisions and they carry most of the information. Dust wipes and fabric transfer disappear with the first wash, and small dents are repaired cheaply and quickly. Documenting the vehicle before it is cleaned or repaired preserves heights and positions that cannot be recovered afterward.
Can you photograph the scene at the same time of night?
Yes. Dispatch runs 24 hours a day, so a visit can be scheduled for the reported hour of the collision. The notes record the date, time, weather, moon and sky conditions observed, which lights were operating, and the camera settings used for each series.
Do you interview the driver or the pedestrian?
On a neutral documentation assignment, field personnel record physical evidence and may note the names of people who say they witnessed the collision. Recorded statements are a separate service offered to insurance carriers, self-insured entities, third-party administrators and their counsel, and are not part of this work.
Will the report say whether the pedestrian was in the crosswalk?
The report states where the physical evidence was found and how far it was from the crosswalk markings, with the source of each point identified. It does not state a conclusion about where the pedestrian was at impact or about fault. That determination is not made by Delator.
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.