Crash reconstructionist in Colorado helps determine how accidents happen: "We're speaking for the victims"

Serious or fatal accidents happen across Colorado regardless of the weather or traffic conditions. After a crash, the investigation aims to answer questions such as what happened and who was at fault. 

It's an important role, and something an Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office crash reconstructionist takes seriously. For Arapahoe County Sheriff's Deputy Ben Sears, pictures help paint the story of how a car accident happened.

"There are times I have 500 photos from a crash," said Deputy Sears.

Combining physics, formulas, measurements, and math, he says, reconstructing a crash is like a puzzle.

"We're trying to put the pieces back together, we're trying our best to put the crash back together," said Sears.

As a crash reconstructionist with the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office since 2019, Deputy Sears is one of the first to respond to accidents that are fatal or serious. He gathers evidence like tire marks, vehicle damage, and data. By analyzing the scene, he can determine the cause of a crash, the sequence of events, and the vehicle's speed.

"The big things that we're looking at are human, vehicle, and environment with every single crash, because those three things are always in play," said Sears. "Was weather a factor, was the engineering of the roadway a factor, or the human side, whether they're impaired, whether they're not impaired, distracted, and then did the vehicle play a role?"

Sears was the first on the scene at state Senator Faith Winters' deadly crash in November. In her case, they initially thought it was a five-car accident, then determined there were two separate crashes.

"Ultimately, we figured out there was a vehicle that was involved in both wrecks, but that took a little while to put together," said Sears.

Sears has gone through hours of training and is the first and only traffic reconstructionist in the agency nationally accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction.

His mission is to serve as a voice for those impacted.

"We're speaking for the victims," said Sears. "The phrase I use is to solve with integrity, and my goal is to solve this so that people get answers and hopefully closure."

In some cases, information gathered during the investigation can also help determine if charges should be filed or help explain engineering issues on the roadway.