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Transportation Research Procedia 20 (2017) 185 192

12th International Conference "Organization and Traffic Safety Management in large cities",
SPbOTSIC-2016, 28-30 September 2016, St. Petersburg, Russia

Methods of Accident Reconstruction and Investigation Given the

Parameters of Vehicle Condition and Road Environment
Sergei Evtiukov 1a*, Elena Kurakina 1b, Valery Lukinskiy 2c, Aleksey Ushakov 3d
1
Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, 4 2nd Krasnoarmeyskaya str., Saint Petersburg, 190005, Russia
2
National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE), 16 Sojuza Pechatnikov str. Saint Petersburg, 190008, Russia
3
NPIKTs-PLIuS LLC, 47 Bol'shaja Porohovskaja str., Saint Petersburg, 195248, Russia

Abstract

Advanced mathematical and static methods of processing of the results of experimental studies, comparison of the obtained data
with the works of authors investigating traffic safety, analysis, reconstruction and investigation of road traffic accidents, as well as
expert analysis helped to identify the most relevant parameters of the vehicle condition and the road environment necessary for
automobile technical expert evaluation (e.g. the friction coefficient, vehicle braking performance under different loads on all
categories of roads with different types of road surface, roughness, wheel tracking, hydraulic roughness) and to obtain their actual
values that are important for expert studies; and that was proved by experiments. The developed method of reconstruction and
investigation of accidents implies calculation of state parameters of the vehicle and the road environment on the basis of the type
of the investigated accident and geometric characteristics of the accident place.
2017
2016Published
The Authors. Published
by Elsevier by Elsevier
B.V. This is an openB.V.
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 12th International Conference "Organization and Traffic
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility
Safety Management of the organizing committee of the 12th International Conference Organization and Traffic Safety
in large cities".
Management in large cities
Keywords: road traffic safety; road; vehicle; road traffic accident; expert study; reconstruction of road traffic accident; friction coefficient;
coefficient of breaking efficiency; condition of the road surface; roughness; wheel tracking

1. Introduction

The causes and factors contributing to development of accidents are possible to identify by means of a detailed

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +0-000-000-0000 ; fax: +0-000-000-0000 .

E-mail address: s.a.evt@mail.rua*, elvl_86@mail.rub, lukinskiy@mail.ru c, lubrisat@mail.ru d

2352-1465 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 12th International Conference Organization and Traffic Safety
Management in large cities
doi:10.1016/j.trpro.2017.01.049
186 Sergei Evtiukov et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 20 (2017) 185 192

expert research of circumstances of road and traffic conditions. Analysis of works devoted to this problem led to the
conclusion that the matter of justification of the post-accident technical examination of the vehicle with the aim to
increase obtaining the number of factors that influenced the accident, should include such aspects as parameters of the
vehicle condition and the road environment. Currently, the practice of considering these aspects is not sufficiently
studied. That is why, the existing methods of the accident reconstruction by the system of driver-vehicle-road-
environment (DVRE) that use tabular parameters of the vehicle subsystems (V) and the road environment (R, E)
cannot provide for objective authenticity and accuracy of the result as there is a wide range of recommended values
of statutory data [Evtiukov and Vasiliev (2005), Kurakina and Evtiukov (2013), Kurakina and Evtiukov (2014),
Kurakina (2013), Kurakina (2014)]. Therefore, the developed method of reconstruction and investigation of accidents
using the parameters of the vehicle condition (subsystem V) and the road (subsystem R) actually recorded at the stage
of source data collection enables to improve reliability and accuracy of calculations and conclusions of experts, which
would increase the quality of expert studies and, consequently, the road safety, and that is the objective of the studied
issue.

2. Main text

In order to reconstruct the accident mechanism it is necessary to obtain information on the technical condition of
the vehicle and the road environment. The following parameters refer to such information in accordance with the
designed method:
x parameters of the road (subsystem R): the width of shoulders and the shoulder-to-shoulder width, the type of the
road surface (asphalt, concrete, etc.), the state of the road surface at the time of an accident (dry, wet grounds, wet
coating, smooth ice, etc.); slope, rising or turning of the road; visibility range in the direction of movement,
including specific objects (pedestrians, cyclists, obstacles, etc.), road illumination at the time of the accident,
location of traffic signs and control equipment (traffic lights, traffic controllers), etc.;
x parameters of the vehicle (subsystem V): braking performance depending on the degree of load (tabulated
regulatory values of this parameter are limited), technical condition of the vehicle, etc.
Assessment of vehicle braking is reduced to calculation of the vehicle deceleration [Evtiukov and Vasiliev (2005),
Kurakina and Evtiukov (2013), Kurakina and Evtiukov (2014), Kurakina (2013)]:
Ma
jdec g cosD r sin D  (1)
Ke
where a is the actual friction coefficient, determined experimentally at the place of the accident with the help of
tools; K e is the vehicle braking efficiency coefficient, which takes into account the degree of total adhesion of tires
with the surface of the road; D is the angle of the plane of the vehicle movement to longitudinal or transverse planes
of the roadway; g is acceleration of gravity.
If there are no experimental data on vehicle parameters, such as the coefficient of tire friction with the road M or
the coefficient of braking performance, this is selected according to standard or average recommended values
depending on the type and condition of the roadway surface at the place of the accident, the degree of the vehicle load,
which reduces the accuracy of calculations and objectivity of expert research findings. The authors revealed the most
important factors affecting the friction coefficient, which are as follows:
Ma Ms kRS kSC kr khr ksm ktr ki ki kP kt kt kt
trans tire road env
(2)

where Ms is a reference, standard value of the friction coefficient; kRS is the coefficient of the road surface type;
k SC is the coefficient of the road surface condition; kr is the coefficient of the road surface roughness ; khr is the
coefficient of hydraulic roughness; ksm is the coefficient of the road surface smoothness; ktr is the coefficient of the
 Sergei Evtiukov et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 20 (2017) 185 192 187

road tracking; ki is the coefficient of the longitudinal slope; kitrans is the coefficient of the transverse slope; kP is the
coefficient of tire inflation pressure; kttire is the temperature coefficient of tires; kt is the temperature coefficient of
road

the road; ktenv is the temperature coefficient of the environment.

The expert analysis revealed the most significant factors and allowed combining some of them into enlarged pairs
or groups [Kurakina (2014)1, Kurakina (2014)3, Evtiukov and Vasiliev (2008), Evtiukov and Vasiliev (2012)]. The
efficiency of vehicle braking under various degrees of loading and different types of the road surface is determined
I V
by the coefficient K E . When reconstructing and investigating the causes of the accident, using parameters of the
vehicle condition and the road environment, it is important to determine whether the driver had a technical ability to
prevent the traffic accident under a particular road environment. That is, if he had the opportunity to stop the vehicle
on the road surface, preventing the collision, a pedestrian accident, or the vehicle rollover, etc. A stopping distance
value Sst is introduced to assess this possibility. According to the proposed method, calculation methods of technical
examination of the vehicle on assessment of the stopping distance and the vehicle speed were adjusted by considering
the parameters and introduction of relevant coefficients evaluating the technical and operational specifications of the
vehicle and the road environment. Determination of the stopping distance is performed by the following formula 3:
M k k k k
S t  t2  0,5t3 
Vveh
Sst 1  Vveh
2
/ 26g s rc IrV hr tr (cosD r sin D ) (3)
3,6 Ke
where t1 is the time of the drivers reaction, seconds; t 2 is the time of breaking start, seconds; t 3 is the time of
deceleration rising up to its maximum, seconds; Vveh is the speed of the vehicle, km/hr.
Determining the vehicle speed during the braking Vveh is based on the need to take into account the fact that S
is defined as the sum of S sl' (the length of a brake track from its beginning to the collision or pedestrian crash point)
and S sl'' . Sometimes it happens, that the place of an accident is defined at the distance S sl'' , i.e. from the end of the
brake track [Kurakina and Evtiukov (2016)]. In this case, the speed at the moment of collision (pedestrian crash) and
the initial speed of the vehicle are determined by the following formulas (4, 5):
26S sl'' Ms krc kr khr ktr
Vcoll (cosD r sin D ) g (4)
KeI V
1,8t3M s krc kr khr ktr
Vveh (cosD r sin D ) g 
K eI V
(5)
26t3M s krc kr khr ktr S sl'
 (cosD r sin D ) g V coll2
K eI V
If the stopping distance S st is already stated in the case materials of the accident, then the speed of the vehicle is
determined by the following formula (6):
188 Sergei Evtiukov et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 20 (2017) 185 192

M k k k k
(t1  t 2  0,5t3 ) 2 ( s rc IrV hr tr cosD r sin D ) g ) 2 
Ke

 2 Ms krc kIrV khr ktr (cosD r sin D ) g  
Ke
Vveh 3,6 (6)
 ((t1  t 2  t3 ) Vveh  S sl )
KeI V

Ms krc kr khr ktr
 ( I V
(cosD r sin D ) g (t1  t2  0,5t3 )
K e
Determination of Vveh before braking start on a steep slope under considerable resistance to movement is
performed by the following formula (7):
Vveh 35,3 f (t1'  t2  0,5t3 ) 
Ms krc kr khr ktr g
 1,8 cosD  sin D t3 
KeI V
(7)
26Ms krc kr khr ktr gSsl
 (cosD  sin D )
KeI V
where t1' '
is the time of drivers foot transfer from the accelerator to the brake pedal ( t1 0.30.5 seconds), f is
the coefficient of resistance to movement; t3 is the time of deceleration rising to the maximum.
The stopping distance S st in the longitudinal plane under the condition of poor visibility is determined as follows:
V KeI V Vveh
2
S st (t1  t2  0,5t3 ) a 
3,6 254(Ms krc kr khr ktr  i  f ) (8)
where i is the longitudinal slope within the peak curve.
Determination of the vehicle speed before braking is determined by the following formula (9) for roads with
different adhesion properties. Deceleration is calculated for each braking area.
1,8Ms krc kr khr ktr g n
Vveh
KeI V
t 3 (cosD r sin D )  26j 1
S j

. (9)
The parameters of the vehicle condition and the road environment, considered during the expert study in
accordance with the designed calculation methods, are as follows: the type of the vehicle and its loading, an actual
curve radii, visibility of an oncoming vehicle at a different distance from the accident place, the shoulder-to-shoulder
width, the width of margin strips and shoulders, presence of markings, the values of longitudinal slopes, the values of
friction coefficients M on the lanes and boundary margin strips and near-edge zones, presence or absence of road signs
within sight of the accident place, the condition of the road surface under various weather conditions, surface
roughness including hydraulic roughness, wheel tracking, the length of the brake track from its beginning to the
collision place, road slopes, the type and condition of the road surface, the height of the driver's eye above the road
surface, the actual visibility of the road surface and its average deviation.
The authors have experimentally proved the importance of actual values of friction coefficients M , road
 Sergei Evtiukov et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 20 (2017) 185 192 189

roughness, hydraulic roughness, wheel tracking, deceleration the vehicle taking into account its load performance,
recommended by current regulations, establishing deviations of the latter. The purpose of the experimental study was
to establish links between variable factors and measured variables, as well as to determine dependencies and to justify
theoretical studies [Evtiukov and Vasiliev (2005), Kurakina and Evtiukov (2013), Kurakina and Evtiukov (2014),
Kurakina (2013), Kurakina (2014)1, Kurakina (2014)3]. The objects of the study were the vehicle and the road
environment. Selection of the subsystem of the road environment was based on a high degree of the accident rate over
the past 5 years, the time of the road surface use, the wear rate, the intensity of traffic and accidents; visual inspection
of the state of the road environment condition was also carried out.
According to the results of experimental studies, the values of the vehicle braking efficiency coefficients KeI V
were identified as follows: KeI III for roads of categories IIII with permanent and lightweight road topping and
KeIVV for roads of categories IVV with lightweight (with processing of binding materials), transition and the lowest
quality of road topping (Table 1).
Results obtained during experiments differ from standard tabular values. Different correction factors are
introduced to improve calculation efficiency of the technical examination of the vehicle which considers technical
condition of the vehicle and the road environment (Tables 1, 2).

Table 1. The values of the road surface condition coefficient k rc for different categories of the road environment
Road state/ Category Categories of the road topping

Category I Category II Category III Category IV Category V

Dry 0.874 0.871 0.870 0.869 0.866
Wet grounds 0.862 0.860 0.859 0.858 0.856
Wet coating, up to 2 0.852 0.851 0.850 0.849 0.847
mm of water film
Wet coating, more 0.851 0.850 0.849 0.848 0.846
than 5 mm of water film
A layer of snow up to 0.844 0.841 0.840 0.839 0.837
5 cm
Dirty cover 0.832 0.830 0.828 0.826 0.825
Compacted snow 0.814 0.811 0.810 0.809 0.807
Smooth ice 0.627 0.623 0.621 0.620 0.619

Table 2. Values of the roughness coefficient kr and the wheel tracking coefficient ktr for the road surface of all categories
Roughness coefficient kr

Road Surface condition

category Wheel tracking coefficient ktr
The type of roughness
Dry Wet Smooth ice

I Coarse roughness 0.758 0.794 0.615 0.973

II Mean roughness 0.921 0.956 0.761 0.904
III Fine roughness 0.951 0.955 0.953 0.981
IV Fine roughness 0.952 0.956 0.953 Within normal range

The method developed by the authors for technical examination of the vehicle of traffic accident reconstruction
and investigation by parameters of the vehicle condition and the road environment also includes a variety of correction
factors. The expert performs the procedure of reconstruction of the accident mechanism in compliance with the stated
tasks and the research algorithm [Kurakina and Evtiukov (2013), Kurakina and Evtiukov (2014), Kurakina (2013),
Kurakina (2014), Kurakina and Evtiukov (2016)] (Fig. 1).
190 Sergei Evtiukov et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 20 (2017) 185 192

3. Conclusion

The developed method of reconstruction and investigation of traffic accidents using parameters of the vehicle
condition and the road environment allows introduction of additional, previously unconsidered factors, thereby
eliminating uncertainty of the stated factors of the vehicle condition and the road environment in the assessment of
their impact on the result of the traffic accident, raising the level of trust for the accident investigation and, as a result,
improving the level of traffic safety in Russia.
Appendix A. Figure 1

Sergei Evtiukov et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 20 (2017) 185 192

Fig. 1. Algorithm of reconstruction and investigation of a road traffic accident by parameters of the vehicle condition and the road environment.

191
192 Sergei Evtiukov et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 20 (2017) 185 192

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