After the serious accident on the motorway in Benken (Germany), a 3D laser scanner was applied for the first time. Two young people died in the accident.
Staff of the Forensic Institute Zurich was called to get to the scene of the accident with a scanner in order to bring light into the darkness. Since the sequence of evident leading to the accident is unknown, the department of public prosecution wants to draw on the data captured by the scanner, if needed. The 3D laser scanner used belongs to the city police of Zurich and is one of two of this type in Switzerland. The second belongs to the cantonal police of Bern.
Twelve positions chosen
With the 3D laser scanner, the surrounding and all traces are surveyed three-dimensionally. A completed result doesn’t come out of the scanner, but so-called point clouds. Per position, a scan results in an amount of data of about two million points. At the place of the accident, specialists chose twelve positions for their scans. Later, they can trace back the circumstances of the accident from many different points of view, if needed.