What needs to be clarified
Identify comparable track areas and overlap features, then compare submitted tires while allowing for ground distortion and post-event tread changes.
Materials to prepare
- Scaled whole-track and overlap photographs taken before recovery
- Casts of surviving three-dimensional impressions linked to a site plan
- Submitted marked tires with post-event use information
What to compare
Compare block sequence, tread width and groove relationships; assess smearing and soil compression. Map overlapping portions separately. Record test-impression conditions and check repeatability of accidental tread features; a standard-pattern match is not a vehicle-specific conclusion.
Possible outcome of the analysis
An overlap map and comparison plates may assess usable areas; findings may be limited to class features, exclusion or inability to resolve the question.
Limits of the conclusions
A tire impression identifies no driver and dates no passage by itself. Wear, load and soil affect appearance; a fragment cannot reliably reconstruct the entire tread.