A method of estimating crash severity by measuring how much a vehicle's structure was permanently deformed and comparing that damage to known engineering data.

People often assume a smashed-looking car automatically proves a high-speed wreck, or that a lightly damaged vehicle means no one got hurt. Crush analysis pushes back on both ideas. Investigators look at where the metal folded, how deep the intrusion was, whether the frame absorbed force as designed, and how that pattern lines up with impact speed, delta-v, and the vehicle's crashworthiness. A bumper cover can look dramatic while hiding a lower-energy hit, and a vehicle with modest exterior damage can still transfer serious force to the occupants.

For an injury claim, crush analysis can support or challenge stories about how a crash happened, how hard the impact was, and whether the claimed injuries fit the physics. It may be used alongside accident reconstruction, black box data, photos, repair estimates, and scene evidence. Bad advice says pictures alone settle the case; they do not. In Hawaii, that matters because auto claims often start under the state's no-fault system through mandatory PIP coverage, while liability issues can still matter beyond those benefits. Hawaii also requires minimum liability coverage of 20/40/10. On flood-prone roads where vehicles may strike barriers, embankments, or each other in chaotic conditions, crush analysis can help separate guesswork from measurable damage.