Pedestrian throw distance prediction from vehicle damage intensity

Abstract

One of the main points to be addressed when ana-lysing vehicle-pedestrian collisions is the vehicle impact speed. If the traffic accident is not recorded on camera, and there are no skid marks nor tachograph in the ve-hicle, the parameter is determined on the basis of empirical models. All empirical models for ascertaining vehicle speed are based on the pedestrian throw distance, which is not always known because of an unidentified vehicle-pedestrian collision point or the final rest posi-tion of the pedestrian after collision. This paper shows a description of a vehicle damage recorded in an ordi-nal scale and determines the pedestrian throw distance prediction model from the vehicle damage established in such a way. If the accident scene is documented by pho-tographs, the damage can be classified, and by applying a validated model, the pedestrian throw distance envis-aged. Then, by applying an empirical model, one can determine the speed of the vehicle at the time of collision with a pedestrian. Two databases were formed during the research. The first is based on real-life traffic accidents (expert witnessing of the professors from the Faculty of Technical Sciences). The second is based on traffic accident simulations as part of PC Crash software package.