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2008 ARC-CSI Crash Conference
June 2-5, 2008
Las Vegas, NV
Palace Station Hotel
ACTAR CEU's: 18
Video Applications in Crash Reconstruction
Presented by: Jim Peterson
In today’s society, video recording in public places has become commonplace. Recordings are used by individuals, businesses, the transportation industry, and government agencies for many different reasons. Some of these reasons include perimeter security for private business properties (buildings and vehicles) and by the government for traffic management and enforcement.
Crash investigators and reconstructionists document and analyze information and evidence to determine the events and contributory causes of a crash. Many types of physical and analytical tools and procedures can be utilized during this analysis. One such tool that can be used to supplement or corroborate a determined object’s (i.e. vehicle, cyclist, pedestrian) speed is the use of video imaging, if available.
The purpose of this presentation is to provide a basic understanding of the steps used in approximating an object’s speed from video imaging. The presentation will be geared toward the conceptual steps of the process and not toward any specific equipment or software. Examples will be used to demonstrate and “validate the process”. The demonstration will include images from different types of cameras used during crash tests where speed has been otherwise documented.
The specific topics to be covered during the presentation are the basic principles of video recording (including typical media formats and frame rates), locations to possibly obtain video, basics of photogrammetry (see also Cpl Dave Templeton’s presentation on “Close-range photogrammetry”), speed calculations, and vehicle / occupant motions.
Bio:
James (Jim) Peterson has been a sworn officer of the Illinois State Police since February 1988 after completing five months of Academy training. He was a road trooper until 1996. In October 1996 he achieved the rank of Special Agent and was assigned to general criminal investigations. In May 2004 he became a member of the Technical Investigations Section where he is currently assigned. Mr. Peterson was a technical accident investigator for the Illinois State Police from 1993 to 1996 and has also privately consulted on civil cases thru J.W. Hall & Associates.
Mr. Peterson began his advanced crash investigation and reconstruction training in 1993. He attended crash investigation courses and other training through the Illinois State Police, and on his own, from institutions such as Northwestern University Traffic Institute (NUTI), Institute of Police Technology and Management (IPTM), Collision Safety Institute (CSI), and the Illinois Association of Technical Accident Investigators (IATAI). Mr. Peterson subsequently achieved ACTAR accreditation (#878) and Illinois Crash Reconstruction Specialist Certification (PTB99235).
Mr. Peterson has been a member of the Illinois Association of Technical Accident Investigators (IATAI) since 1994. He served a term as their vice president, and has for many years assisted with their annual conferences and crash testing. For the past several years, Mr. Peterson has assisted the Collision Safety Institute in conducting the live crash tests at the IATAI conferences and will help with testing this year at the ARC-CSI conference.
