recently we went inside the star with our major accident investigation team during some staged crash exercises that are the highlight of the institute for police technology management's annual conference the stage crashes were conducted by iptm along with the university of tulsa's crash reconstruction research consortium the vehicles operated by a mechanical pulley system are rigged with various sensors and data collecting devices to provide the best picture possible of what occurs during a traffic crash cameras were positioned in the test area to capture as many angles of the crash as possible one of the first tests was to get a better look at vehicle dynamics during a vault or jump reconstructionists can use the scrape marks left behind to determine where the vehicle left the surface of the roadway and where it returned to the surface of the roadway the final test was a little more exciting as they threw a couple of extra cars into the mix with the hopes that there would be a collision as you can see they were successful following the final test reconstructionists on site including our major accident investigation team set up their various equipment and scanning devices to record the crash scene just as they would an actual scene out in the field these hands-on tests provide an unprecedented opportunity for crash reconstructionists to actually witness the crash they are investigating these live staged crash tests only occur in about five places in the world taking an active role right here at home is just another reason why together we can continue to lead the way for a safer pinellas this was brought to you by inside the star your window into the pinellas county sheriff's office