NCJ Number
118679
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 37 Issue: 5 Dated: (May 1989) Pages: 13-14,16-17
Date Published
1989
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Attorneys specializing in personal injury claims have made accident reconstruction an emerging field with the help of computer programs that facilitate accident reconstruction.
Abstract
A computer program was developed in the 1970's that became known as CRASH (Calspan Reconstruction of Accident Speeds on the Highway). Because it was available only on mainframe computers, CRASH has been updated and information comprising its programs has been fashioned in microcomputer format. A followup to CRASH is known as EDCRASH (Engineering Dynamics Corporation Reconstruction of Accident Speeds on the Highway). Another CRASH followup is known as SLAM (Simulated Linear Accident Momentum). A New York firm offers a comprehensive computer program for accident investigation that provides quick and accurate data calculations to determine the cause of a motor vehicle accident. Whether this program actually determines accident cause is debatable, but the program will allow the user to input data to solve for acceleration rate, curve radius, speed, center of mass, tangent offset, and weight shift. A program used by the Texas Department of Public Safety does computations for drag factor, speed, distance, time, and momentum. General Motors has developed software to perform photogrammetry, and a Minnesota company has a computer hardware version of an accelerometer that is attached by suction cups to the inside of a vehicle's windshield. Other computer programs developed to enhance accident reconstruction are noted.