The Core Sequence
Northwestern University Center for Public Safety offers the most respected series of crash investigation and reconstruction courses available for aspiring and experienced professionals. Our five-course sequence begins with an immersive introduction of essential investigative procedures, advances through crucial math and physics concepts and formulas, and concludes with unmatched reconstruction concepts and hands-on techniques. Each course is a prerequisite for the next in the series and is offered in on-ground and online formats. This sequence also is a prerequisite for many of our advanced reconstruction courses. Students who successfully complete the five-course sequence qualify for our NUCPS Traffic Crash Reconstruction Professional email signature logo.
View Dates & Locations for Upcoming Sequence Courses
Click on a below course to learn more and download curriculum details.
Crash Investigation 1
On-Ground or Online
Prerequisites: None | Download Curriculum Details
The moments immediately following a traffic collision are crucial, and only a well-trained crash investigator knows how to identify and collect the necessary information at the crash scene and to how begin the interpretation of that evidence. Crash investigators must work quickly to properly preserve significant physical results before the crash scene is altered or evidence disappears.
Based on J. Stannard Baker and Lynn Fricke’s world-renowned text, Traffic Crash Investigation — a copy of which is included in the course tuition — this course is the bedrock of the Center for Public Safety's Crash Investigation & Reconstruction program and incorporates an in-depth study of the skills needed to systematically investigate a traffic crash. Students learn techniques for obtaining information from witnesses and individuals involved in the crash, recognizing and properly recording roadway and vehicle evidence, measuring and photographing the crash scene, and creating sketches and after-crash diagrams. The course also introduces students to the use of electronic devices (EDR) to collect and record at-scene data.
Register for Crash Investigation 1 On-Ground
Crash Investigation 1 Online & Crash Investigation 1 Online Accelerated
Crash Investigation 1 Online and the faster-paced Crash Investigation 1 Online Accelerated offer the same course curriculum as our on-ground format but with the convenience of progressing through the course from wherever and whenever you like.
- Crash Investigation 1 Online is 8 total weeks.
- Crash Investigation 2 Online Accelerated is 4 weeks.
Online Learning Type: Both online formats are asynchronous and instructor-led with assignment due dates and required contributions to weekly course discussions. Instructors are available for discussion during the course with students. Click to learn more about NUCPS Online Learning.
Crash Investigation 2
On-Ground or Online
Prerequisites: Crash Investigation 1 (On-Ground or Online) | Download Curriculum Details
At-scene traffic crash data collection is useful only if all appropriate data is properly collected, interpreted, and analyzed. Officers and investigators who successfully complete Crash Investigation 2 develop skills in technically preparing crash investigation data and collecting follow-up data. Building upon topics examined in Crash 1, students delve further into the information available at a crash scene, how to properly collect it, and how to initiate its interpretation. Like Crash Investigation 1, the course is rooted in Baker and Fricke’s Traffic Crash Investigation and emphasizes vehicle behavior in crashes, vehicle damage analysis, advanced measuring and mapping, properly downloading and preserving digital evidence from collision investigations, examining road marks and tire damage, and more.
Recently Added Topics include:
- Technical Report Writing
- Our Crash Data Retrieval Operator course is now included within Crash Investigation 2. Students will complete the course certified to download and preserve event data recorders from vehicles.
Crash Investigation 2 Online & Crash Investigation 2 Online Accelerated
The standard Crash Investigation 2 Online and the fast-paced Crash Investigation 2 Online Accelerated both offer the same course curriculum as their on-ground counterpart, building upon the foundational topics examined in Crash 1.
- Crash Investigation 1 Online is 8 total weeks.
- Crash Investigation 2 Online Accelerated is 4 weeks.
Online Learning Type: Both online courses are asynchronous and instructor led with assignment due dates and required contributions to weekly course discussions. Instructors are available for guidance. Click to learn more about NUCPS Online Learning.
Math & Physics Review for Crash Reconstruction
On-Ground or Online
Prerequisites: Crash Investigation 1 & Crash Investigation 2; | Download Curriculum Details
This optional sequence course is designed specifically for students who need to learn or review the basic and intermediate mathematics and physics needed for success in Vehicle Dynamics and Traffic Crash Reconstruction 1 & 2.
Lessons begin with the basics of high school-level math and physics and progress through intermediate concepts. Our course instructors review such fundamentals as perimeter and area, order of operations, angle measurements, and unit conversions before advancing to more complex topics, such as linear and quadratic functions, vectors, and Newton’s Laws of Motion. Participants learn the proper use of equations in order to solve for velocity, acceleration, and distances of travel. Students’ confidence and abilities are solidified with practice problems.
Register for MATH& PHYSICS REVIEW!
MATH & PHYSICS REVIEW ONLINE
Math & Physics Review Online offers the same course curriculum as its on-ground counterpart.
Online Learning Type: Asynchronous; Instructor-led. Instructors are available for discussion during the course with students, though no live presentations are incorporated in this course. Click to learn more about NUCPS Online Learning.
Vehicle Dynamics
On-Ground or Remote Learning
Prerequisites: Crash Investigation 1 & Crash Investigation; Math & Physics Review for Crash Reconstruction (strongly recommended) | Download Curriculum Details
Note: Familiarity with high school-level physics algebra, geometry, and trigonometry is needed. We highly recommend Math & Physics Review for Crash Reconstruction for students who have not learned or reviewed these skills in the last 15 years.
This course introduces students to mathematical formulas and the basic physics used in traffic collision investigation and reconstruction. Instructors present the proper application of physics principles to equations of motion in order to solve for velocity, time, acceleration, and distances of travel. Once these concepts are understood, instruction continues to vehicle braking, drag factors, and coefficients of friction and time-distance analysis.
NEW FORMAT! VEHICLE DYNAMICS REMOTE LEARNING
Vehicle Dynamics Remote Learning offers the same course curriculum as Vehicle Dynamics On-Ground but in a live, online setting. New in 2025: Each live session is now recorded from your Vehicle Dynamics class. Unlike prerecorded, canned lectures from other institutions, NUCPS will be providing recordings of your actual class and discussion. These recordings are not intended to take the place of the remote classroom experience but to help students review live lecture and discussion as they study or to view material they may have missed due to an unavoidable absence.
Online Learning Type: Synchronous. Remote, online course attendance is required per the posted course schedule, generally on Mondays, Tuesdays, and 1/2-day Fridays. Students should also expect asynchronous course work, study, and exams. Northwestern's carefully selected, expert adjunct instructors also will be available for office hours. Click to learn more about NUCPS Online Learning.
Traffic Crash Reconstruction 1 (80 ACTAR CEUs)
On-Ground or Remote Learning
Prerequisites: Crash Investigation 1 & 2, Vehicle Dynamics | Download Curriculum Details
Note: Familiarity with high school-level physics algebra, geometry, and trigonometry is needed. We highly recommend Math & Physics Review for Crash Reconstruction for students who have not learned or reviewed these skills in the last 15 years.
Learn the foundations of traffic crash reconstruction! Building on the curriculum taught in the first three courses of this series, students learn to understand the determination of how a crash occurred. Based on Lynn Fricke’s textbook, Traffic Crash Reconstruction, curriculum focuses on analyzing and interpreting information that has been collected at lower levels of investigation in order to describe — in as much detail as possible — the crash and the events leading to impact. Students apply the lessons from daily lectures to real-world case study situations — an instruction format that provides students with the training necessary to reconstruct traffic crashes. After successfully completing this course, students will have the ability to reconstruct crash situations using momentum and mechanics. A copy of Traffic Crash Reconstruction is included in the course tuition.
Select your preferred TCR1 course date and register
TRAFFIC CRASH RECONSTRUCTION 1 REMOTE LEARNING
Traffic Crash Reconstruction 1 Remote Learning provides the same curriculum as its on-ground counterpart, only in a live online setting.
Online Learning Type: Synchronous. Remote, online course attendance is required per the posted course schedule (see registration page for detailed information). Click to learn more about NUCPS Online Learning.
Traffic Crash Reconstruction 2 (80 ACTAR CEUs)
On-Ground or Online
Prerequisites: Crash Investigation 1 & 2, Vehicle Dynamics, Traffic Crash Reconstruction 1 | Download Curriculum Details
Note: Familiarity with high school-level physics algebra, geometry, and trigonometry is needed. We highly recommend Math & Physics Review for Crash Reconstruction for students who have not learned or reviewed these skills in the last 15 years.
The final course in our foundational series is a continuation of the skills and knowledge learned in Reconstruction 1 and is also based on the Traffic Crash Reconstruction textbook. Through a format that ties lecture material to hands-on analysis, instructors cover conservation of energy and special velocity calculations for situations involving vehicle falls, flips, and rollovers. Students also learn basic skills for analyzing Event Data Recorder information and applying such data to traditional reconstructions. Our expert instructors provide an introduction to the Monte Carlo Statistical Analysis, and students learn to solve momentum-based collision sequences using spreadsheet analysis. Upon successful completion of this course, students will possess the core skills of traffic collision reconstruction and the ability to reconstruct crash situations using energy and statistical analysis of momentum-based crash reconstructions. This course is a prerequisite for other advanced reconstruction offerings.
Learn More about TCR2 & Register!
TRAFFIC CRASH RECONSTRUCTION 2 REMOTE LEARNING
Traffic Crash Reconstruction 2 Remote Learning provides the same curriculum as TCR2 On-Ground, only in a live online setting.
Online Learning Type: Synchronous. Remote, online course attendance is required per the course schedule for the selected course. Click to learn more about NUCPS Online Learning.