Jackson Twp. − Crash Tech Reconstruction Services aims to expand its reach across the United States this year.
The company, founded in 2011 by Jackson Township resident Eric Brown, primarily provides accident investigation services to civil and criminal defense attorneys and insurance companies. His staff of six scanned the vehicle to create his 3D model, flew a drone to photograph the crash scene from above, and downloaded a “black box” inside the vehicle to determine speed, steering and brakes. data can be collected.
“Then we put everything together, create courtroom exhibits, give everything to lawyers, who take it all to trial, and then we go into court and provide all the testimony as expert witnesses. '' Brown said.
In addition to its administrative headquarters in Jackson Township, Crash Tech has field offices in Chillicothe and Houston. The company started using three Entegra Coach campers, which are about the size of Amazon's delivery vans, to avoid working in an office during the pandemic.
Brown said the company plans to add larger vehicles, more like tour buses, this year to serve Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas from its north Florida location. Then he wants to station one of his vans, or “mobile field offices,” in the Pacific Northwest.
“I think once we add a fourth vehicle, if we cut the U.S. into quarters, we'll have pretty good regions of each, but we may need to expand further at that point,” he said.
Until now, Brown has been too busy to schedule an expansion. Crashtech has already had 200 incidents this year, which is about the same number of incidents the company had in all of 2023.
Brown believes this demand is in part due to lawyers recognizing the value Crash Tech provides in the wake of increasingly favorable verdicts, which is why the company is expanding. It is said that there is. He said his staff has traveled as far west as Montana and now works “almost all over the country.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of traffic fatalities in 2020 increased by 7.3% from the previous year, and the number of traffic fatalities in 2021 increased by 10.1% to 42,939 people, compared to the previous peak of 40,000 in 2005. This was the highest number since more than 3,000 people. Traffic fatalities decreased by 0.3% in 2022 and were on the decline in the first three quarters of 2023, but were still higher than pre-pandemic fatalities.
Mr. Brown is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who retired after 11 years with the Canton Police Department and then devoted himself full-time to crash tech. To maintain his law enforcement credentials, he joined the Stark County Sheriff's Reserve Division, where he serves as a sergeant and is part of a multi-jurisdictional accident investigation team.
He has also taught a crash investigation course at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy.
“I'm in the reserves, and volunteering to go out to accident scenes and train police officers feels like a kind of giving back,” Brown said.
He only employs law enforcement officers and is in the process of hiring another person as part of an expansion. When additional expertise is needed, he also turns to partners in the biomechanics, tire and medical industries.
Brown said his ultimate goal this year is to have a multibillion-dollar impact on the industry, “whether it's getting more money for plaintiffs or finding out exactly who is actually at fault.” “It also helps insurance companies maintain their funding by understanding the situation.”
Contact Kelly at 330-580-8323 or kelly.byer@cantonrep.comX: @kbyerREP.
