Nedumbassery accident: Experts from luxury car company likely to join police in Kochi for crash data retrieval

The car involved in the Nedumbassery accident.

Experts from the multi-national company which manufactured the luxury car which was involved in the Nedumbassery fatal accident are likely to assist the police probing the case with on-site Crash Data Retrieval (CDR), according to sources with the investigation team. The police will submit a request to the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-I, Angamaly seeking permission to retrieve the information stored in the Event Data Recorder (EDR) of the vehicle using the help of the experts.

The representatives of the car manufacturer had earlier accessed the preliminary data as part of the police investigation. They have been sent them to the company’s headquarters in Germany for a detailed analysis. The on-site CDR is being planned as part of collecting additional scientific evidence to establish the speed of the car when it allegedly crashed into a three-wheeler, killing three young riders, on October 11.

Crash data is gathered by technicians and experts by connecting an EDR tool to the vehicle concerned.

“The process can be done remotely also. However, we have learned that a team from the company is visiting Kochi shortly. We are trying to make use of their service on-site with the court’s permission,” an officer said. The preliminary EDR data has shown details including the time of the crash and the electrical failures apparently caused by the collision. The additional CDR examination is expected to shed light onto details including the speed of the car at the time of the crash and if the driver had applied brake or not, police sources said.

The investigators, meanwhile, exuded confidence that they have already gathered adequate evidence to prove that the car was over speeding at the time of the accident. The police claimed they have obtained visuals showing the prime accused, 19-year-old Suhail Sajeev, driving the car at nearly 160 kmph shortly before the accident. The footage was recorded on a mobile phone by a co-passenger. Investigators have also secured CCTV footage from multiple cameras showing the car covering a distance of 500 m in 11 seconds shortly before the crash which suggests that the vehicle had been speeding above 160 kmph, according to police sources. A chemical examination report, according to sources, has found that Mr. Sajeev had consumed alcohol five time higher the permissible limit to drive. Mr. Sajeev, and three others, have been remanded in judicial custody since their arrest following the accident on October 11.