The delegate of the Government in Galicia, Pedro Blanco, met today in the Command of the Civil Guard of Pontevedra the new Peripheral Teams of Reconstruction of Traffic Accidents (EPRATs) that have just been incorporated into the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard in Galicia. Pedro Blanco reported on the creation of the two teams at an event held at the Pontevedra Civil Guard Command and attended by the Government’s deputy delegate, Abel Losada; the Chief General of the 15th Zone of the Civil Guard, Miguel Ángel Arias, and the Chief Colonel of the Pontevedra Command, Simón Venzal. In the act they witnessed a simulation of reconstruction of an accident that these teams carry out using computer technology and the data collected at the site of the accident.
Pedro Blanco reported that Galicia is the second community to have the EPRAT after Andalusia. Although the two teams are based in A Coruña and Pontevedra, both will serve the roads of Galicia and will travel when requested by the Accident Investigation Teams (or attested) or the judicial authorities in the course of an investigation.
The delegate stressed that these teams act in accidents of special gravity or in those where there are few indications, in which “knowing how a serious traffic accident occurred is fundamental to the determination of the causes and responsibilities associated with the accident.” The delegate added that these investigations allow “to provide certain and faster responses to the families of the victims of these accidents” and “to ensure that the compensation and sanctions derived from this accident are not delayed in time.”
Training and experience
Each of the EPRAT of Galicia is formed by an officer, a corporal and two civil guards. In total eight people, who combine a long professional experience in the Traffic Sector of Galicia and a specific training in this subject. In particular, all of them passed the University Course of Accident Reconstruction, taught by the University Center of the Civil Guard (CUGC), in collaboration with other external institutions.
The intervention of these teams is not immediate to the occurrence of road accidents, but will be subsequent, supportive and complementary, to the Accident Investigation Teams (EIS) that daily and permanently attend to accidents occurring in the community road network.
This support is aimed at speed calculations, analysis of vehicle elements and the reconstruction of the accident. To carry out these tasks, the EPRAT personnel apply a methodology, both in the scenario of the road accident and in the study and analysis of the vehicles involved, more rigorous and complete, to obtain data and parameters in sufficient quantity and quality to achieve the desired results.