The defense use of biomechanical expert testimony at personal injury trials arising from motor vehicle accident claims has become increasingly common in New York litigation. Particularly in cases where the causal link between the accident and claimed injury is suspect, biomechanical science can potentially provide an alternative avenue of defense. In some of those cases, the biomechanical defense can challenge the causal connection between the complained-of auto accident and the alleged injuries by scientific analysis of the forces and motions pertaining to the vehicles and their occupants involved in the crash. Usually the injuries alleged to have been caused by the accident are of the soft-tissue variety and cannot be discerned by a casual observer, e.g., cervical and lumbar disc herniations and shoulder and knee ligament tears. Such cases often involve surgical procedures performed on the affected body part, with a corresponding increase in possible value.
Accordingly, in the context of personal injury motor vehicle accident litigation, biomechanical science is primarily concerned with the damages issue of causation. The biomechanical engineer reviews the evidence adduced in the case for an accident reconstruction analysis, determines the mechanism(s) involved and forces generated in the accident, and applies the laws of physics and established engineering principles to determine whether or not the subject discrete physical event (e.g., a car accident) could have physically caused the claimed injury or injuries to the affected areas of the body.
