Road Accident Reconstruction and Simulation With and Without EDR Data

Abstract

Road accident reconstruction and simulation investigates the accident causes, suggests improvements in vehicle design and investigates failures in vehicle control and safety systems such as the anti-lock brake system (ABS) and air-bag deployment. This thesis focuses on analysis of crash data from vehicles not equipped with collision warning systems. Vehicle parameters before and during an accident can be recorded using an Event Data Recorder (EDR) which helps in reconstructing an accident. This tool, installed in the vehicle, records different crash parameters like vehicle speed, lateral and longitudinal acceleration, seat-belt status, and air-bag deployment over a period that spens the accident. This thesis focuses on accident reconstruction with and without EDR data. A simulation software tool called HVE is used to visually recreate the reconstructed accidents. HVE is a platform to execute different accident simulation methods which are used for specific types of simulations. Two such simulation methods, EDSMAC4 and EDHIS, are discussed in this thesis. The former is an important method for vehicle-to-vehicle collisions and the latter is used for analysis of human behavior involved in the accident. Three real-life accidents were chosen for reconstruction and simulation. They were Bus and Car accident, Three Vehicle accident and Intersection accident. These particular accidents were chosen to represent a diverse selection of accidents based on the following parameters: the locations of the accidents, the vehicles involved in each accident, and the data available. A qualitative analysis of vehicle occupant's behavior is also presented for one of the three accidents. The thesis discusses in detail the reconstruction of these three accidents. Throughout these simulations, the thesis illustrates the advantages and limitations of the EDR and HVE simulation software for accident reconstruction and simulation.