ON IMPACT THEORY IN TRAFFIC ACCIDENT ANALYSIS

Abstract Impact theory through the use of coefficient of restitution is a frequently used methodology in traffic accident analysis. In expert practice, it has been established as quite reliable for investigating head-on and rear-end collisions between vehicles with small angles between their longitudinal axes, when the "Momentum 360" method has large physical error and is practically inapplicable. This methodology is also used for impacts between vehicles that have large mass differences. Impact theory is quite effective in calculating the velocities of motor vehicles before the impact when one is known - for example, from a tachograph of a commercial vehicle or from another data storage device. In the classical application of this methodology in the general case, it is assumed that the velocities of the contact points are equal to the velocities of the centers of mass of the motor vehicles before and after the impact. This article proposes a more precise methodology for calculating impacts between vehicles, which has proven its effectiveness and good physical accuracy in practice.