Collision Analysis Reconstruction Squad Northampton Police Department 29 Center Street Northampton, MA Collision Report of Michael J. Allard #108 (P) Chloe Rombach (0) Kenzie Kimble-Badgett Case Number Assigned 14-540-AC Date: December 9" 2014 Bridge Street — Latitude 42.325 Longitude -72.625 Northampton, Ma This report will outline findings of facts and determining of inferences and conclusion related to the collision. Using accepted collision reconstruction principles and methodology, this report will illustrate how and why the collision occurred. The finding, inferences, and conclusion will be based upon review, analysis, and /or study of the following documents that accompany this report: Northampton Police Reports On Scene Investigation Global Position System Photographs of the scene Photographs of the vehicle Local Weather Report Ambient/Luminary Lightingn Synopsis It should be noted that the following synopsis is nothing more than an outline or general summary of facts surrounding the events that occurred. The synopsis should not be considered a factual report of what actually transpired, but rather be employed to gain an overview of What transpired. Direction of travel will be documented as it relates to True North. 2-Time Reported: On Tuesday December 9, 2014 at 1725 hrs, this officer was off duty when the Northampton Police Department received a report of a vehicle vs. pedestrian collision on Bridge Street. This officer was then paged at 1730 hrs. This officer arrived at approximately 1825 hrs. and observed the roadway in the area of Bridge Street at Fair Street to be closed down by the police department, The weather consisted of heavy rain and winds. ‘This officer had a conversation with Sgt. Josef Barszcz and Officer Andrew Kohl. Both discussed the preliminary Information regarding the collision to include the victim had been located under the vehicle with the top of her head and left arm visible, in front of the left front tire. I was also advised that witnesses could not place the pedestrian in the crosswalk at the time of the collision. Note: Officer Michael McLaughlin was paged in. He is also a Reconstructionist for the police department. | observed the vehicle at final rest, in the north bound lane, along the roadway and north of the crosswalk. ‘The pedestrian, Chloe Rombach, had been transported to the Bay State Medical Trauma Center in Springfield MA. prior to my arrival. Sgt. Barszcz stated Rombach was not conscious prior to transport. ‘The operator, Kenzie Kimble-Badgett, had been transported to the police station to provide a statement. CSS Officer Kohl took photographs of the scene as did this officer at a later time. The scene was not mapped on the night of the collision due to the heavy rain. The vehicle's finalrest and location of Rombach’s phone were marked with nails. Radial Azimuth Mapping took place on December 14", 3-Atmospheric Conditions At approximately 1525 hrs Tuesday December 9" 2014 the weather recorded at Chicopee Falls/ Westover were: 6 mile visibility, Tempature of 30 degrees Fahrenheit, Dew Point 29 Degrees, northbound wind of 10 miles per hours, maximum wind speed of 23 mph, and Wind Gust speed of 31 mph. There was heavy precipitation. 4-Ambient Lighting ‘The suns position at the time of the collision was below the horizon with a sunrise at 0744 hrs. and sunset at 1709 hrs. The azimuth bearing was 242.80 from True North. The solar elevation was 19.73. There was very minimal ambient light at the time of the collision. S-Luminary Lighting The roadway was with artificial luminary from street lights and or/butldings. Street light lenses were mapped and indicated on the diagram. There was no street light mapping as the conditions could not be reasonably reproduced. 6 Roadway Geometry: Single Roadway Bridge Street is a populated residential area in the vicinity of the collision. The geometry of the roadway in the area of the collision allows for a line from the crosswalk entrance to a distance of approximately 160 feet. There were two vehicles parked at the intersection of Bridge Street and Fair Street on the northbound lane roadway edge which do limit the line of sight. The crosswalk in the collision site consists of 9 two foot wide white marking bars. The bars are generally 16 feet in length. White warning arrows are painted generally 60 feet south of the southernmost edge of the crosswalk. For clarity of this report, Bridge Street runs north and South, containing two marked lanes of travel comprised of bituminous asphalt. There were no roadway abnormalities that considered being a contributing factor. The roadway was wet from the heavy rain however. 3‘The topography is of a level plane, and the surrounding land is used as residential and cemetery. The roadway width is in the order of 40 feet. The average azimuth bearing of the initial direction of the involved vehicle was generally 10 degrees from True North. The average ‘azimuth bearing of the initial direction of the involved pedestrian was generally 279 degrees from True North. 7-Curbing ‘The North and South shoulders of the roadway are comprised of bituminous asphalt curbing. 8-Traffic Regulator(s) ‘Assign depicting a speed limit of 30 mph regulates vehicle traffic proceeding Northerly on Bridge Street. The sign is clean, highly visible to northbound traffic and was consistent with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) as a regulatory notice. The sign is generally 511 feet west of the collision site and is situated along the northbound shoulder. There are crosswalk signs posted on each side of the street at the crosswalk. 9-Scene Investigation and Evidence My attention was directed to the northbound lane of Bridge Street in the area of Fair Street. The vehicle was located approximately 136 feet east of the northern most edge of the crosswalk at the roadway edge. Rombach’s cell phone was located 12 feet north of the northern most edge of the crosswalk, on the center lines. There was no roadway evidence located. Rombach's jacket was observed still attached to the leading edge of the left front fender. There was fatty tissue and skin located on the leading edge of the left from fender. The left front corner, hood, “A” pillar, and windshield all had contact damage. ‘At 2200 hrs. Officer McLaughlin and this officer responded to the Bay State Medical ‘Trauma Center in Springfield to identify and photograph Rombach’s injuries TT, cE Images of the injuries were taken.10-Area of Impact ‘There was no roadway evidence located to indicate any braking by Kimble-Badgett prior to the collision. The vehicle was located 136 feet north of the crosswalk. There were also no markings located in the crosswalk or immediate area to Indicate the impact location. ‘The adjusted coefficient of friction for both the roadway surface and painted crosswalk were calculated. There were ten drag sled pulls performed on each surface. The sled weight was 36 Ibs. The sled pulls were performed adjacent to the crosswalk lines and in the same direction, The asphalt adjusted friction was .74. The sled pulls were then performed on the white painted surface of the crosswalk in the Northeast bound lane. The adjusted coefficient of friction was .57. 11-On-Scene and Follow up Vehicle Inspection ‘The vehicle was initially inspected on scene. Tire pressure on scene is as follows: LR-29.5 lbs LF-31.5|bs RR-13 Ibs (leaking air upon removal of valve cover) RF-32.5 Ibs ‘The front bumper height on scene was measured at 18”-24”. (On December 10th, 2014 at 0800 hrs., Officer McLaughlin and this officer conducted an inspection of the 2004 Mazda 3, VIN JM118K323441196407 bearing MA 4667PS at Cahillane Towing located at 32 Damon Road in Northampton. A.S.£. Mechanic Dana Collins assisted in the inspection. The vehicle mileage was recorded at 118472. The wheel base was measured at 104 inches. The track width was measured at 60 Inches. ‘The Nexen Winguard 205/50R17 tires were fitted to all four wheels. The tread depths are as follows: F-7/32. RF-7/32_RR-7/32_ LR- 10/32 ‘The seat was in position 6 from the front. ‘The brakes did appear to be functioning normally without malfunction. The remaining brake life was estimated at 60%. There did not appear to be any defects or malfunctions of the vehicle equipment. There were 2 recalls. 4: Rack installation. 2: AirBags (Airbag warning light). There were 96 Technical Service Bulletins, See attached bulletins. ‘The horn was functioning normally. The defrost/feet setting was set to level “3” blower and maximum heat. 5‘Anair freshener and beads were hanging from the rear view mirror. It is unclear if this was a factor at the time of collision. ‘The seatbelt pretentioner had not deployed and could not be determined if the operator had been wearing a seatbelt. Al ights appeared to be in normal operating status. The left front headlight bulb was removed and inspected. The filament was observed to suffer “Hot Shock”. Hot Shock observed ina bulb is an indication that the light was hot to incandescent at the time of the collision. The filament’s shape of the left front bulb was altered (deformation) from the original shape as noted on with right front light bulb. This bulb appears to have been hot during the impact. ‘The windshield wipers were in the “on” and “constant low position”. Both appeared to have been functioning properly at the time of the collision. The driver's side wiper blade and ‘arm appeared to have suffered contact damage. There were no signs of streaking or deformity prior to the collision. The windshield was contacted adjacent to the driver's side “A” pillar. The damage was located between 5"-8.5" from the leading edge of the left “A” pillar and 3” from the “A” pillar edge, on the windshield. ‘The vehicle contained a Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) more commonly referred tos airbags. There were no airbag deployments. The Bosch Crash Data Retrieval software program did not support the 2004 Mazda 3 and the airbag control module could not be imaged. On December 12" this officer was present with Chad Ruffo of Cahillane Autobody tested ‘the head lights of the vehicle for aim and precision. The headlight passed testing with an average height of 28 inches. 12-Vehicle Damage Measurements ‘AY-baseline was set up along the latitudinal axis of the vehicle center. x Y Description 24 inches 4 inches Start of hood crush 17 Inches 15 Inches ‘Mid of hood crush 22 Inches 20 Inches End of hood crush 25 Inches 43 Inches APillar 25.5 Inches 58 Inches ‘APillar contact‘The leading edge of the vehicle was measured at 17 Inches. The bumper of the vehicle measured from 17 to 23 inches, 13-Alcohol/Narcotics ‘There is no evidence of alcohol or narcotics use. 14-Distractions ‘There is no evidence of cell phone use or other distractions. 15-Visibilty Officer Koh! (first responding officer) reported the weather at the time of response “consisted of heavy rain and wind causing visibility to be at 2 minimum”, Witness ammimam reported the weather as “heavy wet rain, foggy, just dense rainfall,” definitely nighttime and the headlights were harder to see”. The in-cruiser video was pulled from cruiser #33 showed heavy rains and heavy southbound traffic. There also was visible glare observed in the video. Images from the video were captured by Detective Moody. On December 22th, Officer Kohl reviewed the images and indicated they were a reasonable and accurate representation of his observations. Image 128 approx. 300’ from impact Image 153 approx. 160’ from impact co CH 01. CARSS NPDImage 165 approx. 70’ from impact Glare reduces the seeing distance as it causes light to be scattered through the eyes, which in turn reduces the contrast of the object. This is known as disability glare and can lead to the following effects: Decreased visibility distance- The distance at which an object if visible. The distance is decreased with glare. Increased reaction time- As the light intensity increases, the reaction time to objects in or near the roadway become longer. Increased recovery time-After the driver passes the light source, the glare has a lasting effect and it takes time for the eyes to recover. The ability to see an object depends solely on how it differs from its environment. Factors include Size, Contrast, Motion, Brightness, Time, and Illumination. The information reaching a driver's eyed depends upon the quantity of the illumination. It is necessary for the detected object to be identified in order for the driver to make a decision Rombach was wearing a green jacket, when wet became much darker. In addition was wearing a purple scarf and dark pants. 16-Conclusion My opinions set forth in this report are stated to be to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty and probability with the field of collision reconstruction. This analyst reserved the right to supplement his opinions subject to further analysis and/ or discovery, and reserves the right to respond to any and all opinions proffered by other experts. This report is based on all material received prior to this documents date.It is the assumption that the pedestrian was in the crosswalk at the time of the collision. This is based on the location of the cell phone in relation to the crosswalk and final rest of the vehicle. However as previously noted, the lack of roadway evidence prevents the pedestrian’s precise location at the point of impact to be determined. ‘studies have shown that on average the pedestrian detects the on-coming vehicle at a distance of about 340 feet (normal lighting condition). By contrast the operator usually does not detect the pedestrians at a distance of 125 feet (normal lighting condition). This is a problem for the pedestrian in that they usually believe if they can see the vehicle; the operator of the vehicle can see them. ‘Ageneral indicator of speed with a pontoon or wedge shape vehicle suffering damage to the hood or base of the windshield is 25-30 mph. The “A” pillar damage was 7” from the windshield base. An estimated speed of 25-30 mph in consistent with the stopping distance of the vehicle (including the perception response time). ‘The type of collision is best described as a wrap in which the pedestrian wraps on to the hood and usually slides off the vehicle. Thus the pedestrian may be run over near the end of the slide. Romback appeared to have been tethered to the vehicle by her jacket. ‘The Rombach’s pedestrian speed is unknown at the time. It is not known if heavy rain could have caused her to increase her speed from a normal walking pace. It is the opinion of this officer that the conditions including but not limited to heavy precipitation at the time of the collision, glare present for the operator, and the reduction of contrast (Rombach’s clothing) caused a delay in the perception response for Kimble-Badgett, which were the contributing factors in the collision. Respectfully Submitted, Michael J Allard Highway Safety Officer Collision Analysis & Reconstruction Squad ‘asa “peestlar/Scycls Crash vestigation and Reconstruton-Deputy Chie Bobby Jones Vehicle Pedestrian lye Clon Investigation Manval-TonyL Becker ‘lamp Examination for Trae Colson vestgatos"-TonyL. Becker NHSTA *Nightime Glare pd Dring Performance Report to Congress 2007° AR PRO Sofware Diigo Software nc 9