Published on: 2026-09-29
Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering –
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At the Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, the methodology for reconstructing road traffic accidents involving two-wheeled motor vehicles has been improved. The development allows for increasing the accuracy of automotive technical examinations by more detailed consideration of the braking parameters of motorcycles.
The study was conducted by a candidate of technical sciences, an associate professor of the Department of Ground Transport and Technological Machines Ilya Brylev. The work is dedicated to refining the calculated parameters of braking dynamics, which are used in reconstructing the circumstances of a traffic accident and determining the technical possibility of its prevention by the driver.
The relevance of the study is due to the fact that the current regulatory framework for calculating the braking dynamics of two-wheeled motor vehicles was developed in the 1980s. Meanwhile, modern motorcycles have various types of braking systems, can be equipped with an anti-lock braking system (ABS), and the nature of braking significantly depends on the load and the condition of the road surface. Using outdated reference values may lead to an underestimation of the calculated travel speed and, consequently, affect the expert conclusions about the driver’s technical ability to prevent an accident.
Experimental tests were conducted on 24 motorcycles of six brands to clarify the calculated parameters. The studies covered vehicles with various types of braking systems, including those equipped with ABS and those without it. The tests were carried out on road surfaces with different coefficients of friction and under varying load conditions.
The obtained results showed that the actual values of the established deceleration were on average 20–25% higher than the reference values. At the same time, the deceleration rise time turned out to be two to three times greater than the standard values. These parameters were taken into account in the development of the refined accident reconstruction methodology.
The methodology is based on adjusting the regulatory values of the established deceleration and its rise time using empirical coefficients. An algorithm for determining these coefficients has been developed, taking into account the type of brake system, the motorcycle’s load level, the presence of ABS, braking mode, and road surface condition.
A separate area of research is related to the application of model-based reconstruction (MBR) methods. This approach allows for quantitative analysis of traffic accident dynamics and calculation of the movement parameters of the participants involved in the incident. Within the work, a mathematical framework was developed to determine the trajectory of the driver’s and passenger’s impact throw, as well as injury indices HIC depending on the vehicle speed.
Regression models with high accuracy have been developed for the key parameters: the coefficient of determination R² exceeds 0.9. This allows the use of the obtained dependencies to reconstruct the dynamics of traffic accidents with minimal calculated error.
“The developed methodological framework allows for the exclusion of subjectivity and non-categorical conclusions from expert practice. The use of parametric models provides a deterministic computational basis for establishing critically important parameters, such as the collision point and vehicle speed,” noted Ilya Brylev.
The research results have already been implemented in the expert practice of the Road Safety Institute of SPbGASU. The developed approaches are also used in the university’s educational process for training forensic automotive experts.
The study was carried out within the framework of a grant for scientific research work by the scientific and pedagogical staff of SPbGASU in 2026.
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