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Testing techniques for creating rollovers have been a subject of much study and discussion, although previous work has concentrated on creating a repeatable laboratory test for evaluating and comparing vehicle designs. The two testing methodologies presented here address creating rollover tests that closely mimic a specific accident scenario, and are useful in accident reconstruction and evaluation of vehicle performance in specific situations. In order to be able to recreate accidents on off-road terrain, a test fixture called the Roller Coaster Dolly (RCD) was developed. With the RCD a vehicle can be released at speed onto flat or sloping terrain with any desired initial roll, pitch and yaw angle. This can be used to create rollover collisions from the trip stage on, including scenarios such as furrow trip on an inclined road edge.

For automotive crash tests resulting in significant test vehicle yaw rate, direct integration of accelerometer data does not yield the correct velocity or Delta-V components (even for accelerations sensed at the vehicle center-of-gravity). This paper discusses the effects of yaw rate on the integration of accelerometer data and develops a methodology to properly calculate the velocity and Delta-V at any location on the test vehicle. This methodology is applied to crash test data and compared to results observed from high-speed film. A discussion regarding Delta-V in a yawing vehicle, and its significance to occupant kinematics and injury potential, is also presented.