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Technical Paper

Comparison of Drag-Sled and Skidding-Vehicle Drag Factors on Dry Roadways

2006-04-03
2006-01-1398
Lightweight “drag sleds” have long been used by crash investigators to determine the “drag factor” at a crash scene. Despite this long history, no published work has ever shown a correlation between drag sled results and the skidding performance of vehicles on multiple “uncalibrated” surfaces. Indeed, some researchers have noted that their testing appeared to show a poor correlation between the two. It has become clear in recent years that the interaction between braking or skidding tires and pavement does not fit the simple weight- and speed-independent friction model that has been assumed, leaving the accuracy of drag sleds in doubt. This paper presents the results of several comparison tests at different locations, involving multiple skid-test vehicles, dozens of drag sleds of various designs, and more than a hundred “pullers,” and attempts to correlate the results of the two methods.
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