Citation

Vomhof DW, Vomhof DW. Accid. Reconstr. J. 2019; 29(1): 42-48.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Accident Reconstruction Journal)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In 1991, a set of Crush Factor values was published as part of 4N6XPRT Systems' Expert AutoStats® program. The Crush Factor values represented a summary of data analyses performed by the authors. In subsequent years, numerous reasons have been cited as bases for not using the Crush Factor values, including: the value is overly simple; one stiffness value cannot be considered valid for all vehicles and; the approach becomes erratic when minimal crush is present. In this article, the authors seek to reevaluate the Crush Factor values in order to provide more background for their use and observe any significant changes since their original publication. Data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) Crash Test Database frontal tests are used.

FINDINGS of the authors' study show that it is in fact appropriate to use a Crush Factor value for multiple vehicle types and, while the values are less accurate when dealing with minimal crush, they are still thought to be reliable.

Language: en

Keywords

Crash tests; Data analysis; Crash reconstruction; Crash data; Data quality; Frontal crashes; Validity; Crushing