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Welcome to the Accident Reconstruction Newsletter
Volume 11, Issue #99.
Spring is here and that means getting ready for the Volume 4 of Collision Magazine and the 2009 ARC-CSI Crash Conference. As many organizations are contemplating canceling their annual conference due to "tough times" and budget cuts, the ARC Network is taking a different approach and putting together a stellar line up for June's ARC-CSI Crash Conference. We are dedicated to bringing you the best crash conference experience and education each and every year.
In addition to our speaker line up, we recently added Jeff Muttart to the schedule. He will be speaking on "Evaluating Nighttime Response".
When we started this conference back in 2002, our mission was to provide the best crash conference ever. We wanted to crash relevant cars, capture relevant data and provide new speakers and new topics every year. We know it is tough sometimes to take the time off and spend money to attend conferences, so our goal was to make sure that every year our attendees would leave the conference glad that they did not miss it!
Each year we collect evaluations where attendees rate everything from each speaker to the overall conference experience. We are very proud to say during the past 7 ARC-CSI Crash conferences, on average, over 95% of our attendees answered "YES" to the following questions, 1.) Did the conference meet or exceed your expectations? 2.) Would you attend another ARC-CSI Crash Conference? and 3.) Would you recommend this conference?
We also work hard negotiating the best deals for our attendees. This year we were able to reduce the normally low room rates at the Palace Station hotel and we just re-negotiated the weekend rates if anyone is planning on arriving early. The Friday and Saturday rates were reduced from $119.00/night to $79.00/night. The Sunday-Thursday rate is only $64.00/night.
In addition, the ARC-CSI Crash Conference also qualifies for ACTAR CEUs. We hope to see you this year at the conference.
For complete information on this year's ARC-CSI Crash Conference and to view this year's speakers and presentations, along with saving $200 off registration by registering by April 20, 2009 - click here.
Thank you again for supporting the ARC Network and we hope you enjoy this edition of the Accident Reconstruction Newsletter.
Scott Baker
President
ARC Network
Close Range Photogrammetry
Crash Scene Mapping of a Street Intersection with iWitness
By Lee DeChant
DeChant Consulting Services - DCS Inc.
www.iwitnessphoto.com
Photogrammetry is widely used in Law Enforcement in the documentation of
crash scene evidence.
When a crash scene occurs, sometimes it’s difficult to “link” the required
scene pictures together, for creating the photogrammetric 3D model. This
situation is exacerbated when emergency response vehicles are parked in the
crash scene and evidence is temporarily occluded. As police investigators
know, the problem of occluded line-of-sight during crash scene mapping is
not limited to just photogrammetry, but 3D diagramming in general… if you
can’t see it, you simply cannot measure it.
In order for Close-Range Photogrammetry software to compute XYZ
coordinates and solve the camera’s aim point, it requires a minimum of
seven conjugate markings in the first set of marked images (utilizing a
photogrammetric procedure referred to as “referencing”.) The third and
subsequent images require a minimum of five referenced 3D points. These
referenced “pairs” of features can be obtained from natural scene objects or
using synthetic targeting. Synthetic targets are referred to as “Photogrammetric
Markers” (or PMs) in this document. Natural Features are any
objects in the photos or digital images that can be discretely marked in two
or more images.
>> View the entire article (PDF)
NHTSA Study: More Than 1,700 Fatalities, 840,000 Injuries Yearly Due to Vehicle Incidents Off Public Highways
Traffic Safety Facts - January 2009
DOT HS 811 085
In its most comprehensive report yet, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has completed an assessment of injuries and fatalities involving motor vehicles not in traffic. The new study concluded that more than 1,700 fatalities and over 840,000 injuries annually can be attributed to vehicle incidents off public highways. The new study also ranks injuries and fatalities by incident type. NHTSA will continue to track these data and report them bi-annually.
The Not-in-Traffic Surveillance (NiTS) system is a virtual data collection
system designed to provide counts and details regarding fatalities and injuries that occur in non traffic crashes and in non-crash incidents. The NiTS 2007 system produced an overall annual
estimate of 1,747 fatalities and 841,000 injuries in non traffic crashes and non crash incidents. The NiTS 2007 system provided information about an estimated 1,159 fatalities and 98,000 injuries that occurred in non traffic crashes such as single-vehicle crashes on private roads, collisions with pedestrians on driveways, and two-vehicle crashes in parking facilities. The NiTS 2007 system also provided information about an annual average of 588 fatalities
and 743,000 injuries in non crash incidents involving passenger
vehicle occupants or otherwise involving passenger vehicles. More than half of the non crash fatalities occurred when a vehicle fell on a person who was under it or from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning. The most common types of non crash injuries
seen in emergency departments were injuries while entering or exiting a vehicle (estimated 164,000 per year), injuries from closing doors (estimated 148,000 per year) and injuries from overexertion
such as while unloading cargo or pushing a disabled vehicle
(estimated 88,000 per year).
>> View the entire article (PDF)
Evaluation of Thoracic Injuries Among Older Motor Vehicle Occupants
DOT HS 811 101 - March 2009
Technical Report
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the total resident population of the United States increased from 151 million in 1950 to 296 million in 2005, representing an average annual growth rate of 1.2 percent. During the same period, the population group 65 and older grew on average 2.0 percent per year, increasing from 12 to 37 million people. As the population ages, there is a growing need for vehicle safety to suit older occupants. The fragility associated with the aging process is thought to reduce tolerance to crash forces, making this group more vulnerable to injury in a crash. This study examines the relationship between age and the incidence of thoracic injuries in different motor vehicle crashes.
>> View the entire technical report (PDF)
An Analysis of Speeding-Related Crashes:Definitions and the Effects of Road Environments
DOT HS 811 090 - February 2009
Speeding is one of the most common contributing factors of traffic crashes. Data extracted from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) show that the driver-level attribute “driving too fast for conditions or in excess of posted speed limit” is the critical contributing factor in more than 99 percent of all speeding-related fatal crashes, as de-fined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A marginal number of drivers were determined to be speeding through citations of speeding violations reported to FARS.
In this study, two aspects related to speeding-related crashes are examined. One is how each of the two individual factors, “driving too fast for conditions” (DTFFC) and “exceeding posted speed limit” (EPSL), contributed to speeding-related crashes. The other aspect is how these speeding-related crashes, which related to the factor DTFFC or EPSL were affected by road environments. Road environments examined include: posted speed limit, road surface conditions, road alignment, and road intersection/intersection-related. Data from NHTSA’s State Data System (SDS) was used in the analyses.
>> View the entire report (PDF)
Fatalities in Crashes Involving Alcohol-Impaired 21- to 24-Year-Old Drivers During the December Holidays
Traffic Safety Facts - December 2008
DOT HS 811 063
Fatal crash data has consistently shown drivers1 21 to 24 years old have the highest level of involvement in alcohol-impaired driving fatalities, compared to drivers of all other ages (see Table 1). In 2007, more than one-third (35%) of 21- to 24-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes were alcohol-impaired (blood alcohol concentration [BAC] .08+ grams per deciliter). While drivers 21 to 24 constituted 11 percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes2 in 2007, they constituted 18 percent of all alcohol-impaired drivers involved in fatal crashes, making them the most over involved age group for alcohol-impaired drivers.
While alcohol-impaired driving is always a major con-cern in motor vehicle crashes, there are certain times of
the year when the problem is more prevalent, such as holidays. The percentage of impaired drivers involved in fatal crashes during the last two weeks of December (the Christmas-New Years holiday period) by age group for the last five years of available data (data for January 1, 2008, is not yet available) is shown in Table 2. Note that in each year during this holiday period, the 21- to 24-year-olds again have the highest percent-age of impaired drivers, just as they had in the Table 1 full year data. In addition, the percentage of impaired drivers is consistently higher for this age group during this time period than during the full year of data.
>> View the entire article (PDF)
 2009 ARC-CSI Crash Conference
June 1-4, 2009
Las Vegas, NV
ACTAR CEUs Available
Save $200 by registering before April 20, 2009
Click Here
Collision Publishing knows you have a choice in the conferences you attend. We put every effort into making the ARC-CSI Crash Conference the best it can be. We hope you can see the value, experience and education we provide to every attendee at our conference and look forward to seeing you in June!
>> A full day of relevant, fully instrumented crash testing
>> Three days of quality instruction from industry experts
>> The largest crash conference of the year for valuable networking with your peers
>> ACTAR CEUs
Speakers and Topics
>> Jeff Muttart: Evaluating Nighttime Response
>> Jim Sobek: Optics, Lighting & Visibility for the Forensic Investigator
>> Dan Horak, Ph.D.: Estimation of Vehicle Speed & Trajectory Based on Video from a Vehicle-Mounted Camera
>> Daniel Melcher: Commercial Vehicle Dynamics Factors in Collision Reconstruction
>> Brian Smith: Death Investigations & Their Psychological Effect on Police Officers and Reconstructionists
>> Lawrence Wilson: Accuracy of Critical Speed Formula (CSF) When Applied to Yaw Marks Leading to Rollovers of SUVs
>> Ray Wangler: Braking Efficiency of Motorcycles
>> Tim Reust: A Common Sense Approach to Explaining Real World Acceleration Values
>> Lawrence Wilson: Human Factors Testing
>> Phil Smith/ Tim Reust: Air Brake Fundamentals & Advanced Technology plus Air Brake Performance – details from testing
>> Rusty Haight: Crash Test Data Review
Crash Testing
This year's ARC-CSI Crash Conference will include another ambitious day of crash testing. ARC-CSI has set the standard for excellence in crash testing and distributing the collected data to attendees. Each year the ARC-CSI Crash Team performs multiple, fully instrumented crash tests that provide valuable insight on how various crash scenarios occur. On the last day of the conference our crash team presents each crash test and explains each crash scenario and how to use the data that is then given to each attendee on a data DVD.
Unlike other conferences, at the ARC-CSI conference, you're not only allowed but encouraged to bring video and still cameras and will be given ample opportunity to take photos and video of the crashes and vehicles before and after the testing series. Moreover, at the end of the week, everyone in attendance will receive a data DVD with conference proceedings as well as literally hundreds of high resolution photos of the testing vehicles, crash "scenes", video of the crashes from multiple angles and in multiple formats and the underlying real crash data collected from accelerometer data to vehicle and roadway evidence maps.
Crash testing for the conference will be conducted by Collision Safety Institute, proven leaders in the field of crash testing. Collision Safety Institute has conducted more than 200 crash tests over the years and have set the standard in conference crash test conduct together with data collection and distribution.
Click here for more information and registration
“GPS” Positioning/Tracking System Accuracy & Reliability
By Robert Reed - 11/20/2008
The reliability and accuracy of the GPS positioning and tracking systems utilized in the transportation industry for monitoring drivers, equipment, or cargo can be an issue in incidents or a crash investigation. The multiple systems utilized may have varying degrees of performance, accuracy and reliability. A standard for GPS accuracy has not been defined. Position accuracy is a function of the GPS receiver performance, configuration parameters, satellite visibility of the antenna, and satellite constellation. Every system manufacturer uses its own means of defining, measuring and calculating position accuracy. The user guide or patent for the device usually lists the accuracy and reliability of the system. Empirical testing can be utilized to demonstrate the performance of a GPS system.
>> View the entire article (PDF)
Collision Magazine: Volume 4, Issue 1
The next issue of Collision Magazine will be shipping June 2009.
Collision Publishing is pleased to offer a print and digital publication dedicated to providing timely and current crash research and information. This is the first publication of its kind, featuring conference proceedings, articles of interest, crash test data, industry news and research. Included with every issue is a bonus CD/DVD containing all conference proceedings in electronic PDF format and supporting data.
- Spring Issue Bonus CD: Conference proceedings from the Crash Data Retrieval Users Conference.
- Fall Issue Bonus DVD: Conference proceedings, video, digital pictures, and supporting data from the ARC-CSI Crash Conference.
>> www.collisionpublishing.com
NOTE: Join NAPARS (our premier Industry Partner) and receive a complimentary subscription to Collision Magazine! A NAPARS membership is only $115 per year and includes the annual subscription to Collision. That's one offer you can't pass...
Submit an Article
If you have an article or information you would like to include in the Accident Reconstruction Newsletter, please email it to us at:
arc@accidentreconstruction.com
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