The Relationship between Vehicle Impact Speed and Pedestrian and Cyclist Projection Distance

Abstract

Many factors affect pedestrian and cyclist injury risk in a vehicle collision, but the most important determinant is the vehicle impact speed. This has been observed empirically (see Chapter 2) and is also evident from a theoretical basis, see Chapter 7. Vehicle impact speed therefore has implications for legislators in designing speed limits for urban areas, for automotive engineers to reduce vehicle aggressivity and for biomechanics research into injury causation. It also has legal implications in determining culpability following a collision …