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Several sources report simple equations for calculating the lean angle required for a motorcycle and rider to traverse a curved path at a particular speed. These equations utilize several assumptions that reconstructionists using them should consider. First, they assume that the motorcycle is traveling a steady speed. Second, they assume that the motorcycle and its rider lean to the same lean angle. Finally, they assume that the motorcycle tires have no width, such that the portion of the tires contacting the roadway does not change or move as the motorcycle and rider lean. This study reports physical testing that the authors conducted with motorcycles traversing curved paths to examine the net effect of these assumptions on the accuracy of the basic formulas for motorcycle lean angle. We concluded that the basic lean angle formulas consistently underestimate the lean angle of the motorcycle as it traverses a particular curved path.

When a vehicle with protruding wheel studs makes contact with another vehicle or object in a sideswipe configuration, the tire sidewall, rim and wheel studs of that vehicle can deposit distinct geometrical damage patterns onto the surfaces it contacts. Prior research has demonstrated how relative speeds between the two vehicles or surfaces can be calculated through analysis of the distinct contact patterns. This paper presents a methodology for performing this analysis by visually modeling the interaction between wheel studs and various surfaces, and presents a method for automating the calculations of relative speed between vehicles. This methodology also augments prior research by demonstrating how the visual modeling and simulation of the wheel stud contact can extend to almost any surface interaction that may not have any previous prior published tests, or test methods that would be difficult to setup in real life.

Calculating the speed of a yawing and braked vehicle often requires an estimate of the vehicle deceleration. During a steering induced yaw, the rotational velocity of the vehicle will typically be small enough that it will not make up a significant portion of the vehicle’s energy. However, when a yaw is impact induced and the resulting yaw velocity is high, the rotational component of the vehicle’s kinetic energy can be significant relative to the translational component. In such cases, the rotational velocity can have a meaningful effect on the deceleration, since there is additional energy that needs dissipated and since the vehicle tires can travel a substantially different distance than the vehicle center of gravity. In addition to the effects of rotational energy on the deceleration, high yaw velocities can also cause steering angles to develop at the front tires. This too can affect the deceleration since it will influence the slip angles at the front tires.

This paper reports a method for analyzing data from a DriveCam unit to determine impact speeds and velocity changes in vehicle-to-vehicle impacts. A DriveCam unit is an aftermarket, in-vehicle, event-triggered video and data recorder. When the unit senses accelerations over a preset threshold, an event is triggered and the unit records video from two camera views, accelerations along three directions, and the vehicle speed with a GPS sensor. In conducting the research reported in this paper, the authors ran four front-to-rear crash tests with two DriveCam equipped vehicles. For each test, the front of the bullet vehicle impacted the rear of the stationary target vehicle. Each of the test vehicles was impacted in the rear twice - once at a speed of around 10 mph and again at a speed around 25 mph. The accuracy of the DriveCam acceleration data was assessed by comparing it to the data from other in-vehicle instrumentation.

Accurately reconstructing the speed of a yawing and braking vehicle requires an estimate of the varying rates at which the vehicle decelerated. This paper explores the accuracy of several approaches to making this calculation. The first approach uses the Bakker-Nyborg-Pacejka (BNP) tire force model in conjunction with the Nicolas-Comstock-Brach (NCB) combined tire force equations to calculate a yawing and braking vehicle's deceleration rate. Application of this model in a crash reconstruction context will typically require the use of generic tire model parameters, and so, the research in this paper explored the accuracy of using such generic parameters. The paper then examines a simpler equation for calculating a yawing and braking vehicle's deceleration rate which was proposed by Martinez and Schlueter in a 1996 paper. It is demonstrated that this equation exhibits physically unrealistic behavior that precludes it from being used to accurately determine a vehicle's deceleration rate.

Previous studies have reported and validated equations for calculating the lean angle required for a motorcycle and rider to traverse a curved path at a particular speed. In 2015, Carter, Rose, and Pentecost reported physical testing with motorcycles traversing curved paths on an oval track on a pre-marked range in a relatively level parking lot. Several trends emerged in this study. First, while theoretical lean angle equations prescribe a single lean angle for a given lateral acceleration, there was considerable scatter in the real-world lean angles employed by motorcyclists for any given lateral acceleration level. Second, the actual lean angle was nearly always greater than the theoretical lean angle. This prior study was limited in that it only examined the motorcycle lean angle at the apex of the curves. The research reported here extends the previous study by examining the accuracy of the lean angle formulas throughout the curves.

This paper presents yaw testing of vehicles with tread removed from tires at various locations. A 2004 Chevrolet Malibu and a 2003 Ford Expedition were included in the test series. The vehicles were accelerated up to speed and a large steering input was made to induce yaw. Speed at the beginning of the tire mark evidence varied between 33 mph and 73 mph. Both vehicles were instrumented to record over the ground speed, steering angle, yaw angle and in some tests, wheel speeds. The tire marks on the roadway were surveyed and photographed. The Critical Speed Formula has long been used by accident reconstructionists for estimating a vehicle’s speed at the beginning of yaw tire marks. The method has been validated by previous researchers to calculate the speed of a vehicle with four intact tires. This research extends the Critical Speed Formula to include yawing vehicles following a tread detachment event.

Collision statistics show that more than half of all pedestrian fatalities caused by vehicles occur at night. The recognition of objects at night is a crucial component in driver responses and in preventing nighttime pedestrian accidents. To investigate the root cause of this fact pattern, Richard Blackwell conducted a series of experiments in the 1950s through 1970s to evaluate whether restricted viewing time can be used as a surrogate for the imperfect information available to drivers at night. The authors build on these findings and incorporate the responses of drivers to objects in the road at night found in the SHRP-2 naturalistic database. A closed road outdoor study and an indoor study were conducted using an automatic shutter system to limit observation time to approximately ¼ of a second. Results from these limited exposure time studies showed a positive correlation to naturalistic responses, providing a validation of the time-limited exposure technique.

Tire disablement events can cause a drag force that slows a vehicle. In this study, the magnitude of the deceleration was measured for different phases of 29 high speed tire tread separation and air loss tests. These deceleration rates can assist in reconstructing the speed of a vehicle involved in an accident following a tire disablement.

Previous work demonstrated that the orientation of tire mark striations can be used to infer the braking actions of the driver [1]. An equation that related tire mark striation angle to longitudinal tire slip, the mathematical definition of braking, was presented. This equation can be used to quantify the driver’s braking input based on the physical evidence. Braking input levels will affect the speed of a yawing vehicle and quantifying the amount of braking can increase the accuracy of a speed analysis. When using this technique in practice, it is helpful to understand the sensitivity and uncertainties of the equation. The sensitivity and uncertainty of the equation are explored and presented in this study. The results help to formulate guidelines for the practical application of the method and expected accuracy under specified conditions. A case study is included that demonstrates the analysis of tire mark striations deposited during a real-world accident.

Tire mark striations are discussed often in the literature pertaining to accident reconstruction. The discussions in the literature contain many consistencies, but also contain disagreements. In this article, the literature is first summarized, and then the differences in the mechanism in which striations are deposited and interpretation of this evidence are explored. In previous work, it was demonstrated that the specific characteristics of tire mark striations offer a glimpse into the steering and driving actions of the driver. An equation was developed that relates longitudinal tire slip (braking) to the angle of tire mark striations [1]. The longitudinal slip equation was derived from the classic equation for tire slip and also geometrically. In this study, the equation for longitudinal slip is re-derived from equations that model tire forces.

In low speed collisions (under 15 mph) that involve a heavy truck impacting the rear of a passenger vehicle, it is likely that the front bumper of the heavy truck will override the rear bumper beam of the passenger vehicle, creating an override/underride impact configuration. There is limited data available for study when attempting to quantify vehicle damage and crash dynamics in low-speed override/underride impacts. Low speed impact tests were conducted to provide new data for passenger vehicle dynamics and damage assessment for low speed override/underride rear impacts to passenger vehicles. Three tests were conducted, with a tractor-trailer impacting three different passenger vehicles at 5 mph and 10 mph. This paper presents data from these three tests in order to expand the available data set for low speed override/underride collisions.

PC-Crash is a vehicular accident simulation software that is widely used by the accident reconstruction community. The goal of this article is to review the prior literature that has addressed the capabilities of PC-Crash and its accuracy and reliability for various applications (planar collisions, rollovers, and human motion). In addition, this article aims to add additional analysis of the capabilities of PC-Crash for simulating planar collisions and rollovers. Simulation analysis of five planar collisions originally reported and analyzed by Bailey [2000] are reexamined. For all five of these collisions, simulations were obtained with the actual impact speeds that exhibited excellent visual agreement with the physical evidence. These simulations demonstrate that, for each case, the PC-Crash software had the ability to generate a simulation that matched the actual impact speeds and the known physical evidence.

This paper investigates the dynamics of four motorcycle crashes that occurred on or near a curve (Edwards Corner) on a section of the Mulholland Highway called “The Snake.” This section of highway is located in the Santa Monica Mountains of California. All four accidents were captured on video and they each involved a high-side fall of the motorcycle and rider. This article reports a technical description and analysis of these videos in which the motion of the motorcycles and riders is quantified. To aid in the analysis, the authors mapped Edwards Corner using both a Sokkia total station and a Faro laser scanner. This mapping data enabled analysis of the videos to determine the initial speed of the motorcycles, to identify where in the curve particular rider actions occurred, to quantify the motion of the motorcycles and riders, and to characterize the roadway radius and superelevation throughout the curve.

This paper presents analyses of 21real-world pedestrian versus vehicle collisions that were video recorded from vehicle dash mounted cameras or surveillance cameras. These pedestrian collisions have in common an impact configuration where the pedestrian was at the side of the vehicle, or with a minimal overlap at the front corner of the vehicle (less than one foot overlap). These impacts would not be considered frontal impacts [1], and as a result determining the speed of the vehicle by existing methods that incorporate the pedestrian travel distance post impact, or by assessing vehicle damage, would not be applicable. This research examined the specific interaction of non-frontal, side-impact, and minimal overlap pedestrian impact configurations to assess the relationship between the speed of the vehicle at impact, the motion of the pedestrian before and after impact, and the associated post impact travel distances.

Tire tread separation events, a category of tire disablements, can be sub-categorized into two main types of separations. These include full tread separations, in which the tread around the entire circumference of the tire separates from the tire carcass, and partial tread separations, in which a portion of the tread separates and the flap remains attached to the tire for an extended period of time. In either case, the tire can remain inflated or lose air. Relatively, there have been few partial tire tread separation tests presented in the literature compared to full tread separation tests. In this study, the results of 25 full and partial tire tread separation tests, conducted with a variety of vehicles at highway speeds, are reported. Cases in which the tire remains inflated and loses air pressure are both considered. The testing was performed on a straight section of road and primarily focused on rear tire disablements.