SKIDMARKS AND SPEED ESTIMATES

Skidmarks left by tires on locked wheels of vehicles involved in accidents as they slide to a stop after hard brake application provide good physical evidence of braking distances and therefore are prime evidence insofar as providing the rate of speed of the motor vehicle. A safety professional investigating such as accident-given adequate data as to the skidmarks left by the vehicle involved, including their characteristics, their length, and the type of highway surface on which they were made, together with data as to the surface conditions, weather, degree of slope or grade of the road - can use proven mathematical formulas to make a very reasonable and close estimate of the rate of speed at which the vehicle was traveling when the tires began to produce the skidmarks.

• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Safety Engineers

  850 Busse Highway
  Park Ridge, IL  United States  60068
• Authors:
  • Attaway, C D
• Publication Date: 1977-4

Media Info

• Features: Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 34-39
• Serial:
  • Professional Safety
  • Volume: 22
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: American Society of Safety Engineers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash investigation; Estimates; Skids; Speed; Stopping distances
• Old TRIS Terms: Marking
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00156089
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Research Institute
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 28 1977 12:00AM