Eugene Police Officer Michael Klews has passed the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction’s rigorous testing process and is now fully accredited as a Traffic Accident Reconstructionist. He joins Officer Robert Meador and Lt. Ron Tinseth, who earned accreditation in prior years.
Officer Klews is a member of Eugene Police Major Collision Investigation Team. The Eugene Police Department’s Major Collision Investigation Team (MCI), is an ad hoc team with nine members including a lieutenant, sergeant and officers who are specifically and extensively trained to investigate motor vehicle collisions. These officers all have full-time assignments in the patrol or investigations division, but are on call to respond to major vehicle collisions.
MCI is activated to reconstruct serious collisions, such as when there has been a fatality or life-threatening injury, or when a DUII collision causes serious injuries. The team is also activated to investigate crash scenes when a police pursuit or a collision involving a city vehicle generates any significant injury or damage, and sometimes in other circumstances in which investigating officers require technical assistance.
In 1985, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provided a grant to develop national guidelines for the standardization of training in traffic accident reconstruction. The ACTAR program encourages the integrity, consistency and professionalism of those involved in traffic accident investigation and reconstruction, to promote the professional and intellectual development of those individuals, organizations and institutions involved in traffic accident investigation and reconstruction, to assist the legal and scientific community in weighing the suitability of individuals offering their services as accident reconstructionists and to improve public awareness of the profession as it relates to the legal system.