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What were your actions just prior to the accident?
Why were you there, what was your destination?
What was your exact position? What views did you have? Were there any obstructions blocking part of your view?
Did you know any of the persons prior to the accident event?
Contributing factors: Glare, wind, dust, mechanical problems, broken windshield, driver physical condition, lane usage, turning, passing, unsafe backing, wrong way driving, animals darting, etc.
All collision involvement by all parties (trees, pedestrians, signs, structures), in sequence of events
Traffic Controls - what type (lane controls, marking, signs, signals, person directing traffic)
Were automatic signals operating properly? What vehicles saw what lights? (colors, arrows, etc)
Were police called? - is your recollection now the same as you told the police?
Is your recollection now the same as you put on accident form or made in statements?
Location of first damage to vehicles. Was there a secondary accident?
Any vehicles look as if they had prior damage?
Was the Airbag deployed in the accident?
All parties injured: Visible, complaints, medical attention, position in or on vehicle, restraints used or activated, ejected or trapped
Kind of locality (residential, industrial, rural, business)
Opinion of traffic congestion.
Any road construction/maintenance/utility work or workers present? (did they get names or identity?)
Light conditions, time of day, weather conditions, road surface and condition
Road character: curvy, hilly, hillcrest, down/up negative camber, hidden stop signs, obstructed perspective view
Did you talk to drivers, passengers or witnesses? What did they say, how did they react? Names & addresses?
Did all stories compare? Did the drivers/passengers/ witnesses talk to each other? Did they altercate?
Estimated speed of vehicles.
Braking action by all vehicles and area vehicles even though not in accident. Any attempted evasive action taken.
Could you see driver position just before accident? (appying make-up, slumped over wheel, using phone, bent over toward passenger door, turned around to persons in back seat, etc)
Special event nearby that would distract attention? (beggars, teenage car washers, fair, distracting advertising)
How long did you stay? What sequence of events happened after the accident? What agencies responded to scene? What did they do?
Do you know who called police?
Did you see alcohol, drugs, etc in any of the cars or with the driver? Were any drivers or passengers impaired?
Did you move your position after the initial accident? (watch out for persons giving information from second perspective)
What stood out in your mind as to the most unusual thing about this accident?
How long have you been a resident of Indiana? Are you a licensed driver? What type of license do you have? Any restrictions? Were you taking medication at time of accident? (subtle way of asking about vision impairments, prior problems, etc)
Color of vehicles, makes, models, year. (memory test)
Were you under a doctor's care at time of accident? (drivers)
Have you been contacted by anyone else about this accident? Who all have you provided statements to?
Were any drivers speeding up through a yellow light? Were any drivers "pushing" the anticpated green light?
(Special situations) Has anyone approached you about your recollection and attempted to alter your recollection?
What CDL (Commercial Driver License) do you hold? Name all endorsements and restrictions.
What was your License status at the time of the accident?
Did you complete a PRE-TRIP "walk around" inspection of your truck before driving? Did you complete the Inspection Form? Did you note any defects at that time?
Did you observe any defects during the trip? Did you note these on the POST-TRIP Inspection Form?
Note: CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) 396.11/396.13 deals with responsibility of Truckers and Companies for safe vehicles.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Some of the above questions are out of logical order and some may appear to be redundant. This is by design to test the memory of the witness and cross check their story. This method will many times take the witness out of a rehearsed story mode.
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