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Asked by albert19 to Mark, Kat, Jamie on 11 Mar 2011 in Categories: General.
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Katherine Davies answered on 11 Mar 2011:
Hi Albert
In the long run, I would like to think so, yes. I wouldn’t be doing what I am if I didn’t see that it did – where would the satisfaction be in working otherwise!
The research I am doing is very new, and in the field it takes a long time for standard methods and practices to become embedded in protocols around the world. Hopefully in a few years time, my methods for estimating the ages of insects from a crime scene will help in the vast majority of cases (where insects are present) in the UK and worldwide. Ultimately, if my work can help in a single case, and help justice, then I’m happy.
Kat
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Jamie Pringle answered on 11 Mar 2011:
I would like to think that forensic investigators would have a better chance of finding clandestine burials of murder victims as a result of my research so yes!!
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Mark Hill answered on 11 Mar 2011:
Sometimes it does, although only little bits of the country.
At a collision scene, it is a bit like a jig-saw puzzle; someone has dumped all the pieces for you and walked off with the picture. It is my job to try and work out what the picture was – and the reasons for the crash.
If, using maths, or science, or testing, I find that the road could be improved somehow, to prevent further accidents, then I will talk to the County Council Highways departments. I may have found that the road surface had worn and was not as grippy as it should have been.
All roads have a polished stone value (psv) which the ‘highways engineers measure. It is the sharpness or grippiness value of the surface. Through thousands of vehicles travelling over the road, the stone surface gradually polishes and wears away. When vehicles then brake, it may take longer to stop in some instances. If I do a skid test at a collision scene to measure the surface co-efficient of friction (it’s grippiness) and I find that it is worn, then the Highways Department will sometimes resurface it.
If I find a bend is too sharp, or it could be banked slightly (super-elevated by 3 or 4 degrees) then vehicles will be able to travel more safely around it. The Highways Department may alter the banking to improve it.
Sometimes, but rarely, I may find a vehicle fault when I do a mechanical examination of crashed vehicles. The examination is to try and work out whether the mangled vehicles had any faults with them, prior to the crash, which may have caused, or helped toward the crash. If I find that a component has broken before a collision, because of, say, corrosion, or excessive wear, then I will remove it and examine it under a microscope. I may send it away to a specialist laboratory for testing.
If there was a fault with it, then I would let the Department for Transport Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) know. They may then contact the car makers, who then send ‘recall’ letters to owners of similar cars, to get them checked over.
So, yes, I may improve the country… ever so slightly. Thank you for your broad minded question. Mark.
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