Now in its 14th year of business, Origin Forensics LLC, a small Liberty Lake-based consulting company that specializes in automotive accident reconstruction and biomechanical injury analysis, is looking to raise greater awareness of its unique services and broaden its client base. 

“Mostly we’re looking to let more people know who we are and what we do,” says company founder and owner Jarrod Carter. “At the very least, our story might encourage someone to buy a dash cam or tell friends in need of our services to check us out.”

Founded by Carter in 2003, Origin operates from an 1,800-square-foot office space in the Liberty Lake Portal Business Center, at 23403 E. Mission. In addition to Carter, the business employs two engineers and two office support workers.

“I’m hoping to hire an additional engineer, or a partner who has a similar background to mine in forensics and accident reconstruction,” Carter says. “That would allow us to continue to grow and take on more cases.”

Carter describes accident reconstruction as the process of applying physics to the analysis of automobile collisions, in order to develop a detailed understanding of the effects a collision has on both a vehicle and its occupants. 

He says all accidents come with three major parts that need to be analyzed. The first part includes the interaction between two vehicles—or a vehicle and an object—and the second includes interactions between an occupant’s body and the car, other objects, or ejection. The third involves what happens inside a crash victim’s body.

“Most of our clients are larger companies who come to us with multiple cases at a time,” he says. “Currently, we have about 60 active cases open.” 

Carter says most of Origin’s clients hire the company to find out how an accident happened, and what occurring during it, including which specific forces contributed to the end outcome.  

Depending on a client’s needs, Carter says, an analysis can take a week to eight months to complete. 

“I would say we complete between 45 and 60 accident reconstruction cases each year,” he says. “Our service area is nationwide, and our typical clients include large auto and trucking manufacturers, insurance carriers, and attorneys representing individual clients.”

Carter says most of the company’s clients are larger auto manufacturers, like Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, although it has recently been doing more work for trucking manufacturers like PACCAR Inc. and Daimler Trucks North America.

“Most accident reports we complete for those clients include data pertaining to design or manufacturing defects,” he says. “We’re looking to find out what happened, as well as whether specific components responded according to their design. Quite often, we’re also looking to determine whether or not a component contributed to the accident or to the injury of an occupant.”

Because the company’s full data collection service packages can cost thousands of dollars, Carter says, Origin doesn’t often serve individual clients. 

“We do work with attorneys who represent individual clients, but most are cases where it’s escalated beyond just ‘I may need this data,’ to an actual lawsuit,” he says. “Our services are expensive, which is why I advise most people to get a dash cam before they get into a serious accident. It’s an inexpensive, effective way of securing footage, which can end up saving you a lot in the long run.”

He says Origin also has done work for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, and other law enforcement agencies in the area.  

 “It’s costly to train someone to gather and interpret evidence from crash sites, so they hire us to serve as independent experts,” he says. “We collect data and present our analysis, then it’s up to them to apply it to their investigation.”

In fact, Carter says the process of accident reconstruction starts with gathering information from the site, similar to that which is gathered for use in most police reports. 

“We start by physically inspecting the site and the vehicles involved,” he says. “If there’s dash camera, cell phone video, or an electronic data recorder, we gather that too.”

Carter says many people aren’t aware that most modern vehicles have an electronic data recorder that records information about a crash from the vehicle’s perspective. 

“That’s the vehicle version of a black box,” he says, referring to the recording device common in aircraft. “Usually, it’s also connected to the systems that tell different parts of the vehicle like airbags and seatbelts to activate during an accident.” 

He says depending on the manufacturer, a data recorder can track everything from airbag and seatbelt usage, to acceleration, engine RPMs, and gear changes.

“The device will record and store that data even if there’s no airbag deployment, so we can also use it to determine whether a crash was significant or not,” he says. “Usually, it’s easy to retrieve all of that information by plugging in a crash data retrieval tool kit.”

Carter says his team also uses a 3-D laser scanner to measure and take images of crash sites, as well as taking both conventional and aerial photos. He says the team also looks for other evidence that might tell more about what happened in a crash, including tire marks, debris, and blood. 

“We document everything we can, collecting as much data as possible so we can get a sense of how things occurred,” he says. 

Once his team has examined a crash site, Carter says the next step is analyzing data to try to figure out how it all fits together.

“We start with what we know, things like vehicle type, size, weight, and number of occupants,” he says. “We then analyze evidence collected at the site. After that, we can input that data into a computer model that simulates the crash, and glean further details based on how well the two data sets match.”  

For each case, he says the company creates a report or summary of its findings, which it tries to present in an easily understood manner. 

“We break down the acronyms and other jargon, and use as many visuals as possible, to make it understandable for what we’d consider to be a moderately educated individual,” he says. 

While Carter says the majority of clients usually only require a basic written summary of accident findings, a select few can involve a deposition, or require him to make a trial appearance. 

“Most cases, we simply report our findings so it’s documented,” he says. “Very few cases require the need for a deposition or a trial. I have at some point participated in both to explain my findings, but those cases are rare.” 

Carter says the company’s annual revenues average between $800,000 and $1 million, depending on the number of cases that need to go to court. 

“Obviously, we hope to continue to see revenues grow, which is one reason I’m looking to hire another partner,” he says. “I’d also like to see us begin to diversify our services if possible.”

In the future, Carter says he’s interested in developing deeper relationships with law enforcement and offering more services relating to crime scene analysis and investigation, as well as exploring how to document accident scenes involving autonomous vehicles.

“I’m interested in doing more with forensic investigation, but I also can’t wait to see what changes will come to the industry once automated, driverless vehicles come online,” he says. 

Carter says new technology, like aerial drones and the latest in 3-D lasers, already have been instrumental to his work.  

“Drones are an exciting tool that’s been embraced in a lot of industries,” he says. “We’re actually working on writing a research paper that better explains how to integrate the use of drones in documenting accident scenes.” 

He says Origin also is looking into obtaining a new handheld 3-D laser that would make documenting evidence and taking quality photos in small spaces easier.

 “I’d like us to be able to get as complete a picture of each site as we can, starting above with the drones, and moving right down to the ground,” he says.

Carter says he’s promoting wider use of the company’s newest technology, a mobile data collection unit. 

“It’s a van that comes equipped with all the tools to quickly and efficiently document sites within a five-hour drive from our headquarters,” he says. 

According to Carter, the older a scene is, the harder it is to obtain reliable data, so the mobile unit is particularly important for use at remote, rural sites.

“Previously, with remote crash sites, we’d only have traditional photos to go on, which makes it much harder and more expensive to try to glean more information or re-create the crash digitally,” he says. “This technology allows us to quickly and comprehensively document those sites.”

Originally from Texas, Carter says he moved to the Chattaroy area north of Spokane while he was still young. 

“I attended Riverside High School,” he says. “And after graduation, I met my predecessor, Dr. Jon Habberstad, who got me interested in the field of accident reconstruction.”  

Carter says Habberstad was a single practitioner with his own accident reconstruction business who’d started as a mentee of James Collins, the author of one of the first texts on accident reconstruction in 1979. 

Carter says Habberstad then became his mentor.