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Motor vehicle accidents are often difficult to resolve since the data is conflicting and of questionable validity. Conventional analysis requires a great deal of expertise on the part of the accident investigator. Problems that are conceptual and cannot be reduced to numbers can often be solved using expert system technology. KAR is a prototype rule based Knowledge-based Accident Reconstruction system used at the initial stage of an investigation. The program is capable of calculating vehicle speeds using any combination of the following techniques: skid, roll, overturn, yaw, vault, momentum and energy. The system's most notable feature is its interpretive abilities. The program is able to determine how to solve the mechanics of the accident, and verifies the evidence before it uses a particular method in the calculations. Additionally, an interactive explanation facility allows the user to examine the program's reasoning.

When performing calculations pertaining to the analysis of motor vehicle accidents, investigators must often select appropriate values for a number of parameters. The uncertainty of the final answers is a function of the uncertainty of each parameter involved in the calculation. This paper presents the results of recent tests conducted to obtain sample distributions of some common parameters, including measurements made with tapes, measurements made with roller-wheels, skidmark measurements, yawmark measurements, estimation of crush damage from photographs, and drag factors, that can be used to evaluate the uncertainty in an accident reconstruction analysis. The paper also reviews the distributions of some pertinent data reported by other researchers.