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Jed Boal ReportingInvestigators are still looking for answers in a series of car crashes on I-80 Saturday. The Utah Highway Patrol awaits more evidence before talking with prosecutors about potential charges against two surviving drivers.
It could be a couple of weeks before the UHP wraps up its investigation of the crash. They need blood test results on drivers and victims, and a reconstruction team will diagram the complex crash.
A two-car crash on I-80 set off a series of four more crashes Saturday as cars and trucks careened into the stacked up traffic. The last crash was the worst. A semi plowed into eight cars; witnesses say the driver never hit his brakes.
Investigators with the Multi-disciplinary Accident Investigation Team will use a technique called photogrammetry to create a detailed diagram of the crash.
Sgt. Jamie Maddux, UHP Accident Investigation Team: "It's just so accurate. If it's done properly, it is accurate within fractions of an inch."
Investigators on the scene start the process by numbering skid marks and gouges in the road cars in the crash. Any potential clues
Sgt. Jamie Maddux: "Once we've been through the scene and found all the evidence we want and marked it with markers, we'll take pictures of the scene."
From every possible angle then they download the photos into the photogrammetry program and let it work. The program references the pictures and builds this three dimensional diagram.
Sgt. Jamie Maddux: "We are able to create a complete scale diagram of the accident scene or crime scene."
The final product is a two-dimensional diagram that lets investigators determine the speed of vehicles and the sequence of events. But the technique cannot answer all questions and a complex crash like the one on I-80 is difficult.
Conditions of the vehicles and drivers do not show up on the diagram, pinpointing bad brakes or fatigue is a different piece of the puzzle.
Sgt. Jamie Maddux: "The photogrammetry is one small part of a much larger investigation."
Investigators use the same technique to reconstruct homicide scenes.
As for the I-80 crash, investigators talked to the truck driver today, but will not tell us what he said until the investigation is done.
