Citation

Craig V. Accid. Reconstr. J. 1997; 9(3): 70-72.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, Accident Reconstruction Journal)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In the last few years there has been an explosion of books, technical papers and other literature on the subject of traffic collision investigation and reconstruction. What is surprising is that in all this literature the common occurrence of a vehicle colliding with a roadside object has been ignored. Despite the fact that the FHA is crash testing fixed objects, impact speed calculation in guardrail/bridgerail collisions is a topic that is underexplored. Fortunately, guardrail impacts are usually not severe enough to cause serious injury. Unfortunately, these impacts are often the prelude to or aftermath of a more serious collision. Hence the selection of guardrail/bridgerail crash tests as the subject for this report. It is worth noting that for autos and light trucks, use of energy dissipation will give more accurate results than trying to apply the basic skid formula. This is because light vehicles tend to hit and bounce off the rail rather than remaining in contact with it. Because heavy trucks generally remain in contact with the rail longer, the basic skid formula appears to be a valid approach for speed estimation.