A BMW Overturned
An Own Damage (OD) incident allegedly occurred at a slip road in Johor Bahru. The driver was driving the BMW along the slip road and he suddenly saw there was a dog crossing the road in front of him. He tried to avoid the dog by turning the BMW to his left, but lost control of the BMW, which subsequently plunged into the drain beside the road and overturned. The BMW was severely damaged.
Damage Analysis & Interpretation:
We determined the additional damage on the BMW, which was caused during the recovery and towing process, as shown below:
We compared the soil sample collected from the BMW and the scene and found that it was the same, as shown below:
BMW
Scene
The damage analysis revealed that there was a significant damage on the offside front door of the BMW, which was not the result of the overturn event or the recovery process, as shown in the figures below. The drain and adjacent slopes, where the BMW ended up, or the road objects around the area, would not result in such scuff marks on the door. Thus, it was caused by another event, which was not related to this alleged event.
The airbags, seatbelt pretensioners, and battery safety terminal of the BMW did not activate, which indicate that the BMW did not detect any frontal, rear-end, and side collisions. This is inconsistent with the damage observed on the BMW.
Damage Analysis & Interpretation:
We determined the additional damage on the BMW, which was caused during the recovery and towing process, as shown below:
We have discovered at different initial travelling speeds (i.e. 40km/h to 100km/h), the BMW could not overturn to an upside-down position when it plunged into the drain. This is inconsistent with the actual position that was observed in the scene photographs.
Therefore, we have concluded that the damage on the BMW is inconsistent with the incident circumstances as alleged by the driver.
*Identities in this case study article has been altered to protect the individuals’ privacy.
