MEET RICHARD RINKER
Richard Rinker is a retired Bus and Rail Collision Investigator/Accident Reconstructionist with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and a retired Sergeant of Police with the Los Angeles Police Department with over 30 year’s experience. He has worked in Collision Investigation assignments for over 40 years. He is currently a Senior Associate Staff Instructor for US Department of Transportation, Traffic Safety Institute where he teaches classes on Fundamentals of Bus Collision Investigation and Advanced Problems in Bus Collision Investigations.
In his previous positions, he was responsible for responding to and investigating specified serious injury and fatality bus and rail and non-revenue vehicle collisions and providing expert opinions as to causation and liability factors as they affect the safety of bus and rail operations within the operational area served by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Agency.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Union Institute and University, earned in June, 2012 and a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Woodbury University earned in 2013. He is accredited by the Accreditation Committee of Traffic Accident Reconstructionists number 1461.
He is a graduate of the Northwestern University Traffic Accident Reconstruction I and II classes, as well as numerous other specialized Accident Reconstruction classes from the University of North Florida, Texas A&M University and the US Department of Transportation. He was involved in the design and implementation of the LAPD Specialized Collision Investigation Detail where he was a Team Leader for eight years.
As a Sergeant of Police, he was responsible for supervising some of the most complex and sensitive collisions in the City of Los Angeles for 11 years.
He has conducted approximately 1000 Traffic Accident Reconstruction investigations in both the public and private sectors. He has offered expert testimony in over 55 trials including US District Court.
Full Curriculum Vitae available upon request.
WHAT DO I DO?
While I am a general Accident Reconstructionist, I focus on criminal defense such as Watson Murders, Manslaughter and Felony DUI. When a party to a collison is arrested for a felony crime, the prosecution has at its disposal many well trained, experienced and capable Collision Reconstruction experts. Most local police departments have in-house experts. If not, they have access to Deputy Sheriffs from their county and members of the Highway Patrol or State police. If need be, they can get technical support from the State Department of Justice or even the Federal Bureau of Investigations. With all this expertise arrayed against them, who does the Defendant have? Who reviews the police investigation? Who ensures proper techniques and analysis has been accomplished?
Defense of felony criminal charges requires a combination of legal and technical analysis. The advent of the Watson Murder case allowed for very serious charges in select fatal collisions. The subsequent Olivos case refined what is required to sustain a conviction. In the Olivos case, the Court refined the standard set by Watson define the difference between negligence and wanton disregard for life as the mindset of a driver with wanton disregard knows, or reasonably should know, that his driving will result in death, but he doesn’t care. How does one disprove the allegation that the driver didn’t care? The reconstructionist must evaluate the driving pattern of the Defendant and determine what, if he did anything he did to avoid the collision. This requires a thorough evaluation of the actions of all parties to the collision and all of the available evidence.
Other crimes, such as Felony DUI and Felony Reckless driving require Proximate Cause. The analysis of these factors requires an understanding of the applicable laws relating to the total circumstances surrounding the collision. This includes an evaluation of the Airbag Control Modules for all cars and motorcycles, if available, and analysis of contributing factors by the involved drivers.
Because speed is often an issue, I provide traffic speed surveys using state of the art radar equipment as needed. I am a qualified Airbag Control Module Analyist.
RECENT CASES
In Los Angeles County, 2024, a driver accused of traveling 95 MPH in a 25 MPH school zone was involved in a fatal collision. He was charged with and prosecuted for one count of PC 187, second degree murder, 192(c) (1) PC Felony Manslaughter and 23013 VC, Felony Reckless Driving with Injury. After a thorough review of the techniques used by the investigating Officers, we were able to show their speed estimates were wrong, their at-scene investigation was deeply flawed, and their basic cause analysis was incorrect. The investigating officers failed to consider the actions of the deceased’s driver or evaluate the evasive maneuvers performed by the Defendant prior to the collision. As a result, the Murder and Reckless Driving with injuries charges were dismissed and the defendant was allowed to plead to Felony Manslaughter.
In a Central Valley, California, 2023 case, a defendant was charged with driving 153 MPH in a 35 MPH speed zone prior to becoming involved in a fatal collision. A thorough review of the data available to the police revealed the speed recorded by the Airbag Control Module was incorrect. The defendant applied his brakes vigorously and swerved to the left prior to impact. The driver of the deceased’s vehicle had been driving on the wrong side of the road for more than 5 seconds prior to impact and improperly turned left in front of the Defendant. This was the actual cause of the collision. The District Attorney dropped the Murder charge after reviewing my analysis of the collision.
