Pedestrian & Bicycle Crash Reconstruction

40 Hours | 40 ACTAR CEUs
Prerequisites: Traffic Crash Reconstruction 1; Traffic Crash
Reconstruction 2 is encouraged

Vehicle-vs.-pedestrian or -bicycle crashes often result in severe injuries, escalating the importance of thoroughness and accuracy in the investigation and reconstruction processes.

In this advanced reconstruction course, students learn the math equations to model such collisions and the appropriate formulas for varying crash scenarios. Students also learn how to determine first-contact positions of pedestrians, bicycles, and vehicles and to estimate the speed of a striking vehicle. Other course topics include the motions of a human body as a result of an impact as well as empirical data for crashes that involve walking and running pedestrians and bicycles. Students also receive an introduction to injury biomechanics.

This course includes three lab workshops, including a pedestrian visibility workshop in which students study pedestrian visibility leading up to a collision. Participants are exposed to the different effects of illumination, luminance, and glare and learn to discern the roles that visual acuity and contrast sensitivity play in when driving. Other field projects include developing data from pedestrian and bicycle velocities and studying drag factors of bodies on various surfaces.

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Curriculum Topics:
Identification & documentation of information from the road, vehicle & body • Investigating pedestrian / bicycle hit-and-run crashes • Pedestrian motion as a result of a vehicle collision • Pedestrian & bicycle crash reconstruction techniques • Vehicle speed estimates • Vehicle dynamics review & time-distance analysis • Pedestrian / bicyclist strategy & tactics • Pedestrian visibility & conspicuity • Pedestrian & bicycle velocities
• Drag factors • Case analysis / case studies

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