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Some Aspects of Motorcycle-Vehicle
Collision IReconstruction
ABSTRACT
A major difficulty in the reconstruction of motor-
cycle-vehicle collisions derives from the fact that the
motorcycle-rider and the motorcycle itself execute in
general different trajectories after a collision with
another vehicle. Accordingly, certain assumptions
which may vary from case to case have to be
introduced in order that the momentum and energy
balance approach which is usually applied for the
purpose of collision reconstruction can be adapted
to calculate pre-impact Icircumstances. However, due
to the often unfavourable mass ratio an accurate
reconstruction may be impeded. A problem also
exists in the assessment of post-crash decelerations
of motorcycles because their ,motion patterns during
that phase are often complex and not easily
reconstructed. Likewise, in determining the course of
pre-impact braking it has to ibe taken into account
that in most motorcycles front and rear wheel brakes
are applied independently. According to whether,
e.g., a fall of a motorcycle is caused by a skidding
front or rear wheel the relative trajectories of
motorcycle and rider may differ decisively.
On the basis of real motorcycle-vehicle collisions
which were reconstructed for forensic purposes,
possible reconstruction procedures are
demonstrated. The application of momentum
balance in combination with appropriate
approximations to determine pre-impact speeds is
elaborated. The importance of a reliable accident
documentation thereby becomes evident. Further-
more, motorcycle braking and falling characteristics
as well as some aspects of accident causation are
discussed.
ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION is an important
basis of accident analysis and injury prevention. As
experiments in trauma research under physiological
conditions are not possible, the in-depth analysis of
real collisions represents a useful method to
correlate mechanical impact and loading conditions
Peter F. Niederer
Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Medical lnformatics
University of Zurich
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
with injury patterns in humlans. To allow furthermore
for a reliable legal assessment it is often necessary to
scrutinize the physical “initial” conditions leading to a
collision. Likewise, accident causation analysis relies
on reconstruction, and finally, the ultimate efficacy of
injury prevention measures can only be determined
on the basis of epidemiological research involving
the reconstruction of real accidents.
Every traffic accident is characterized by a
number of mutually dependent components, in-
cluding physical, medical traffic engineering and
psychological aspects For the purpose of trauma
research, however, the determination of the
mechanical loading conditions in a given case is of
primary importance. The aim of collision
reconstruction consists of determining the time
course of an accident as accurately as possible on
the basis of the available evidence by applying the
fundamental laws of mechanics. Typical questions to
be resolved thereby include:
- Location of collision and associated position of the
involved vehicles at the beginning of the collision
phase;
- pre-impact motions, i.e , collision velocities and
directions of motion prior to the collision;
- post crash motions;
- identification of injury-inducing mechanisms and
correlation of mechanical loading conditions with
injuries.
Linear and angular momentum balance is often
applied in order to determine some of the crash-
related parameters mentioned above such as impact
velocities. For this purpos13, planar motion patterns
of the colliding vehicles are assumed such that 3
equations are available to cletermine 3 of the collision
parameters in question. As there usually are more
than 3 unknown quantities’, additional evidence has
to be used:
- post crash velocities can often be calculated from
spin-out distances and estimated friction
parameters;
- directions of motions are reconstructed from a
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geometrical crash reconstruction; respect to variations of the relevant crash

- the amount of energy absorbed by vehicle parameters h a s t o b e i n v e s t i g a t e d [3]. T h i s
deformations is estimated and equated to the proposition is particularly true for motorcycle-vehicle
crash-related difference in kinetic energy (if this crashes because of their complicated kinematics.
relation is evaluated formally as an equation and
combined with the rnomentum balance, the EES- MOTORCYCLE-VEHICLE COLLISION
method results, such as described by Zeidler et al. RECONSTRUCTION
VI>;
- an accurate description of sustained injuries is of As an example of a typical reconstruction
help in the determination of geometrical collision approach, the collision documented in Figure la is
configurations; considered. Vehicle damage, i.e., the identification of
- additional, rather occasional information is mutual contacts between passenger car and
sometimes available, e.g., the acceleration motorcycle as well as the injury pattern of the
distance of a vehicle starting from a stop signal motorcycle-rider allowed to determine the collision
may be known such that an estimate of a collision configuration (Figure 1 b). In particular, an impression
velocity can be made. of the nut securing the handle-bar pivoting axle
In cases of car-to-car collisions, these methods behind the left front wheel of the car could be
are well established, analyzed and widely applied [2]. discerned together with its orientation and impact
Their success is primarily due to the fact, that such a direction. The (fatal) injuries of the motorcycle rider
collision can usually be modelled adequately as a included extensive laceration of the thorax and an
simple two-body problem and that a planar motion open fracture of the right upper leg and pelvis which
approximation is often justified. Once the physical could be attributed to an impact on the left rocker
collision circumstances are elucidated, an attempt panel of the car.
can then be made to determine crash victim motions Linear momentum balance in x- and y-direction,
and loading conditions to perform an injury analysis. respectively, requires
However, every reconstruction is based on the
available evidence and a number of approximations. (m,+m$v,-m3v3cosa = -m3v3’cosfi (1)
Whenever, e.g., essential out-of-plane motions are
-m3v3sina = m, v,’- m3 v3’sin fl (2)
involved, such as in roll-over accidents, or falls, a
reconstruction may b e c o m e d i f f i c u l t o r eva2 with
impossible. Likewise, inadequate documentation m, : mass of motorcycle;
may impede a satisfactory reconstruction. m2 : mass of motorcycle rider;
Somewhat different difficulties arise in the m3 : mass of passenger car;
reconstruction of motorcycle-vehicle collisions, v, : pre-impact speed of motorcycle and rider;
because the motorcycle-rider and the motorcycle v,’: post-impact speed of motorcycle alone;
s. pre-, and post-impact speed of passenger
itself execute in general different trajectories while v3, v3 *
their masses are of the same order of magnitude, car;
s u c h t h a t t h e reconstructionist i s f a c e d w i t h a, B : pre-, and post-impact direction angles of
essentially a three-body proiblem: motorcycle-rider, passenger car motion.
motorcycle, vehicle. Accordingly, certain additional
assumptions which may vary from case to case have In establishing equations (1) and (2) the following
to be introduced in order that momentum approximations have been made:
considerations can be applied to calculate pre-
impact circumstances. The often unfavourable mass --The duration of the mutual contact during the
ratio of rider/vehilcle or motorcycle/vehicle collision phase was short compared to the duration
sometimes causes however conslderable of the spin-out phase, such that the momentum
inaccuracy. A problem may also exist in the balance may be expressed in integrated form.
assessment of post-crash decelerations of
motorcycles because a planar motion approximation --The pre-impact speecl of the motorcycle and rider
is often insufficient to describe their motions and were the same, their direction of motion coinciding
even a purely geometrical reconstruction of the with the x-axis.
trajectory may be unreliable. Likewise, in determining
the course of pre-impact braking it has to be taken --The post-impact momentum of the motorcycle
into account that in most motorcycles front and rear rider is neglected because his final position was
wheel brakes are applied independently. According close to the impact location, while the post-crash
to whether, e.g., a.fall of a motorcycle is caused by a direction of the motorcycle was identical with the y-
skidding front or rear wheel the relative trajectories of axis.
motorcycle and rider may differ decisively (see
below). Thanks to the accurate documentation, the spin-
As mentioned a.bove, a particularly important out distances are accurately known. Using estimated
aspect of accident reconstruction is related to values for the average clecelerations, a , during that
accident documentation. Accuracy and phase, in particular
completeness of a documentation in essence
determines the feasibility and ultimate accuracy and 3 . 5 m/se? < a, < 5 . 5 m/sec2 (3)
reliability of a reconstruction for which purposes the
sensitivity of the reconstructed quantities with
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900750

I----- \ I
Scratchesdocumenting impact zone
Fig. 7 a: Scaled map of the accident site of a ,‘j Final position of motorcycle rider and
motorcycle-vehicle collision. While helmet
turning left, a passenger car hit an 9: Tire mark (tcl be attributed to right front
oncoming motorcycle. wheel of passenger car)
70: Final position of passenger car
7: &e-impact direction of motorcycle 77: Debris from motorcycle
Pre-impact direction of passenger car
;; Skid mark (to be attributed to fear F i g . I b: Reconstructed trajectory and collision
wheel of motoxycle, see fig. 76) configuration of motorcycle, rider and
4: Skid mark (to be attributed to front passenger car
wheel of motorcycle) x, y: coordinate system
5: Scratches caused by skidding a, J: Pre- and post-crash direction
motorcycle angles of passenger car, respectively.
6: Final position of motorcycle
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4
for the motorcycle and
2 m/sec2 < a c 5 m,lsec2 (4)
for the passenger car,
respectively, intervals for v,’ and v3’ can be
calculated. Since the masses and angles are
furthermore known, minimal values for v and v3 can
be determined form equtations (1) and (2j
v, > 19 m/set (5) and v2 > 7.5 m/set (6).
On the basis of an assessment of the energy
a b s o r b e d i n t h e velhicle d e f o r m a t i o n s i t w a s
established that velociities which were essentially
higher than (5) and (6) are be excluded. Since in this
particular case the point of application of the primary
collision force and its line of action are close to the
center of mass of the passenger car, angular
momentum balance can only approximatively be
evaluated and verified. To obtain the driving speed of
the motorcycle before braking, it is finally necessary
to evaluate the estimated velocity decrease during
the braking phase.
For lega! purposes, reaction intervals and visibility
distances can then be evaluated. To assess the
reliability of the reconstruction the sensitivity of the
collision parameters with respect to variations of the
initial conditions has to be investigated. Moreover, an
analysis of crash victim loading in combination with
an injury assessment can be performed. All of these
additional procedures (which are not elaborated here
because they are not the subject of this paper) are
important and necessary steps for a complete
reconstruction. -
I i
\ 10m
Fig. 2: Scaled map of the accident site of a
motorcycle-delivery van collision. The
motorcycle hit the delivery van entering
from a side street in the area of the left
rear wheel.
900750
The case presented may serve as an example of
a successful reconstruction of a vehicle-motorcycle
collision. While some of the aspects of this case are
specific in nature and only representative for the
particular circumstances under consideration, e.g.,
the accidental, almost perpendicular directions of
motion of the motorcycle, others are typical for many
cases and applicable in a ‘wide variety of motorcycle-
vehicle collisions, e.g., spin-out motion analysis. In
any event, the importance of a complete and
accurate documentation is evident, without which
this reconstruction would have been tmpossible.
The unfavourable mass ratio often occurring in a
motorcycle-vehicle collision was mentioned earlier as
an important possible source of inaccuracy. A typical
case illustrating this circumstance is shown in Figure
2, where a motorcycle (mass including rider 200 kg)
collided with a fully loaded delivery van (mass 2200
kg). The mass ratio of 1 :l 1, as well as the
impossibility of determining the collision
configuration accurately impeded a satisfactory
reconstruction of the irripact speeds of the two
involved vehicles in spite o f t h e a c c u r a t e
documentation.
Figure 3 documents a case where the spin-out
motions of the motorcycle and rider which among
other things skidded over a curbstone are difficult to
assess. Since furthermore the exact location of the
collision as well as the final position of the car are
unknown, only an approximate reconstruction could
be performed.
P f e - i m p a cdt i r e c t i o nof motorcycle
;
P f e - i m p a cdt i r e c t i o nof delivery van
3: Scratches documenting collision zone
4: Final position of motorcycle and rider
5: Final position of delivery van
6: Skid mark of /et? rear wheel of delivery
van
7. Street c a r tracks
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Fig. 3: Scaled map of the

accident site of a
mofofcycle-
passenger car
collision. While
crossing the street,
the front of the
passenger car
crashed into the side
of the motorcycle.

7: Pre-impact direction
of motorcycle
,2: Pre-impact direction
of passenger car
,3: Dirt from fender
documenting
collision zone
4: Scratches caused
by skidding
motorcycle
5: Final position of
passenger car
(moved affer
collision)

c
6: Final position of
motorcycle rider
7: Final position of
motorcycle
8: Curb
9: S&et car tracks

MOTORCYCLE BRAKING AND FALLING
CHARACTERISTICS
Of particular interest in the case presented in
Figure la is the pre-impact motion of the motorcycle.
A skid mark together with scratches caused by the
fallen motorcycle are documented in the scaled map
of the accident site. The question arises whether the
‘:ire mark is to be attributed to the front or rear wheel.
,4s most motorcycles, in particular the one under
consideration, are equipped with independent
Drakes for the two wheels, the answer to this
question is not straightforward. In contrast to the
conditions of straight run where this is often of
secondary importance only, one finds that brake
application in curves is decisive [11, 51 for the course
of an accident. From Table 1 summarizing the
relevant numbers for Switzerland in 1988 [6] it is
furthermore seen that accidents associated with
some kind of turn or curve constitute a majority.
While typical decelleration values of fallen and
skidding motorcycles are between 3.5 m/sec2 and 7
m/sec2, bodies gliding on a street undergo in
general higher deceleratrons of up to 12 m/sec2 171.
Accordingly, a motorcycle-rider will lag behind his
motorcycle after a fall, providing that the fall evolves
such that the motorcycle is in, front. This is usually
the case, when a rear wheel is loverbraked in a curve.
In contrast, a rider will become positioned in front of
the motorcycle and subsequently be pushed by it, if
the front wheel is overbraked, because in every case
the skidding wheel will leave the intended trajectory
towards the outside of the curve.
In the case under cons deration, the front wheel
was overbraked, as otherwise the particular collision
configuration would not have resulted. Here, the
motorcycle rider became positioned between the
motorcycle and the car ancl the associated jamming
process during the collision phase represented the
decisive injury aggravating circumstance. Figure 4
documents a similar collisicln event, however, in this
case the rear wheel of the motorcycle was
overbraked. As a result, both rider and passenger
were located behind the motorcycle at impact and
sustained moderate injury .n spite of the severity of
the collision situation.
Passenger car brakes ace designed such that the
front wheels lock before the rear wheels in order to
ascertain vehicle stability. In view of the falling
characteristics of motorcycles this requirement
cannot be adopted to such vehicles a priori. An
a v e r a g e m o t o r c y c l e rider is hardly capable of
achieving maximal braking efficiency in a curve, as
this would require an optimally balanced application
of the front and rear wheel brake which is dependent
primarily on load distribution, cuwe radius, friction
propettles and speed. As a general rule, less severe
circumstances result for thle rider if the rear wheel is
overbraked. Even more desirable however are
suitable anti-lock systerns which have a potential to
considerably improve the overall braking
characteristics of motorcycles.
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Fig. 4: Scaled map of the accident site of a
motorcycle-delivery van collision and
reconstructed collision configuration.
The van entered into the highway from
a side street and was in the process of
turning left, when it was hit by a
motorcycle.
Broken lines
configuration
ACCIDENT CAUSATION ANALYSIS
A successful reconstruction is of use in analysing
accident causation factors. Thereby, it is often not
possible to identify a unique cause for an accident,
because in most cases a collision is the result of
several adverse circumstances. Nevertheless, it is for
practical purposes usually possible to indicate a
primary cause. With respect to passenger car -
motorcycle collisions Table 2 contains figures for
Switzerland in 1988, which were collected from police
records and investigations. As such they do not
necessarily take into account the final legal outcome
(often years later) in every case. The findings
therefore are intended to reflect some general
characteristics rather tlhan to indicate exact numbers.
In Table 2 the ratio of the number of vehicles
(passenger cars to motorcycles) is compared with
the ratios of the number of injured and killed
7: Pfe-impact direction of motorcycle
Pre-impact direction of delivery van
‘,j Skid mark (to be attributed to rear
wheel of moi’orcycle)
4,5: Final positions of motorcycle rider and
passenger
6: Final positior? of delivery van
7,8: Scratches and tire mark indicating
collision zone
9,70: Debris from motorcycle
i n d i c a t e reconstructed collision
drivers/riders and the number of the primary
accident causing driver/rider. First, the well-known
fact is reproduced that motorcycling is associated
with a high danger, as motorcycles are four times
m o r e f r e q u e n t l y involved i n a c c i d e n t s t h a n
passenger cars. Thereby, it should be noted that the
figures in Table 2 do not take into account yearly
mileage which may differ greatly between passenger
cars and motorcycles, i.e., the ratio related to vehic!e
mile (which would be a more meaningful measure) IS
to be expected to be even considerably higher. Of
interest however is the finding that motorcycle riders
less frequently constitute the primary. accident
causating factor, in that passenger car drivers more
often cause accidents. This result emphasizes the
significance of safety measures for motorcycle riders
in spite of the limited possibilities: Improvement. of
visibility, braking characteristics, protective clothing
appear to be of primary importance.
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Table I : Motorcycle Accidents and Locations in Switzerland 1988 [6]

(The total number of reported motorcycle accidents in 1988 was 3’441)

straight path curve or intersection

Number of horizontal 883 horizontal (curve) 187

Reported Cases upwards 169 upwards (curve) 168
downwards 139 downwords (cun/e) 163
hilltop 9 hilltop (curve) 10
junction 822
intersection 795

Total 1’200 2’145

Table 2: Selected Characteristics of traffic accidents in Switzerlmd 1988 [6]

--
passenger cars motorcycles ratio

Number of units 2.76 - lo6 0.21 * lo6 13.1

in traffic

Number of drivers/ 14.2. lo3 4.5* lo3 3.2

riders injured in accidents *)
killed 427 136 3.1

Number of drivers/
riders causing
accident **) 61.2010~ 3.20 lo3 19.1

l) All reDofled cases with injuriles of AIS r2

l *) &J reported acciderlts

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8 900750

CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES
Momentum balance together with additional
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Braking performance of a motorcycle in a cuwe, VI Prem H.:
The Emergency Straight-Path Braking
in particular the circumstance, whether a front or a Behaviour
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influences the outcome of a collision. Anti-lock S A E P a p e r N o . 87 1228, Sot. o f A u t o m .
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safety measures for motorcycle-riders (visibility, PI
Aspects of Motorcycle Braking.
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accident causing factor compared to their collision PI Traffic Accidents in Switzerland 1988 (in
German).
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