Compatibility analysis
Compatibility analyzes are carried out when reconstructing accidents. Insurance fraud involving motor vehicles is widespread in many countries, especially in German-speaking countries. The insurance companies often deny that the damage to two vehicles is compatible and can be reconciled with the course of the accident . A technical expert for accident analyzes is then called in . In general, the inspection by the technical expert should be carried out in two steps. The first step is to examine compatibility . According to a given system, it is analyzed whether the damage patterns of the vehicles involved match each other.
The general procedure consists of four successive steps:
morphology
There are three-dimensional images of the size and configuration of the deformations produced, this will be photographs evaluated and transferred to scaled drawings. Or measurements are taken directly from a vehicle from the same series and evaluated.
Initiation configuration
The photographs must be searched for clear deformation patterns in order to determine the impact configuration. This abutment configuration consists of overlap, abutment angle and height allocation.
Detailed damage analysis
Based on the impact configuration that was worked out in the previous work step, every detail of the deformation pattern can be examined in detail. For each imprint there must be a counterpart in the abutment position found. The deformation lines of the contact zones must match.
Comparison of the damage intensities
In particular, if an intensity comparison is not carried out as the last step, an incorrect assessment can occur. Since the stiffness distribution on the body structures is often very different, the conclusion that the damage is incompatible is often drawn without a precise analysis of the structural stiffness of the contact zones.
Result
If the damage does not match, there is evidence that the accident descriptions must be incorrect. If they are compatible, it must be checked in a further step whether the accident sequence described is plausible. Vehicles are often collapsed on purpose in order to generate a profit by means of a fictitious settlement with the insurance company. These cases can often be exposed as deliberate actions by a plausibility check .