A “Toolbox” for Forensic Engineers

Component Failure in Road Traffic Accidents 341
Figure 10.18 Damage to the front of the car caused by collision with the trailer.
Figure 10.19 Extension bracket and side arms to which the towball was attached
at the rear of the towing vehicle.
passed him to have been in the region of 60 mph and was well toward the
middle of the road, although on its own side of the central white line.
Figure 10.18 is a view of car showing its position immediately after the
collision. Figure 10.19 shows the tow ball mounting on the back of the
Landrover. This was an extension bracket from the main chassis member
to bring the tow ball level with the bumper and there were two side supports
of steel angle section, now hanging loose. The tow ball itself had been bolted
onto the extension bracket by the two high tensile steel bolts shown in
Figure 10.20. It will be noticed that both bolts are bent but the bracket
itself was only slightly deformed. The left side link seen hanging loose in
Figure 10.19 was found to be buckled when the extension bracket was
removed.