Motorcycle Accident Reconstruction
Nathan’s second book is titled Motorcycle Accident Reconstruction. This book was awarded a silver medal Ben Franklin Award by the Independent Book Publishers Association. As Nathan discusses in his book, a well-founded reconstruction of a motorcycle crash will take into account the unique ways that motorcycles handle and the relationship of the rider to the motorcycle. A motorcycle rider is not attached to or contained by the motorcycle in the same way passenger car drivers are by their vehicles. Oftentimes, a rider will separate from the motorcycle during a crash and will physically strike a car or the ground. Also, the rider’s weight relative to the motorcycle is often greater than a car occupant’s weight relative to the car. Because of this, a motorcycle rider’s body motion and posture can exert significant influence over the motion of the motorcycle. And, of course, motorcycles usually have only two wheels and often capsize during a crash.
On the other hand, a well-founded reconstruction of a motorcycle crash is much like any other accident reconstruction - it is based on physical evidence and on fundamental principles of physics. Conservation of energy, conservation of momentum, Newton's laws of motion, empirical data and physical testing - these are at the core of motorcycle accident reconstruction, just as they are at the core of rollover accident reconstruction, heavy truck accident reconstruction, pedestrian accident reconstruction, roadside barrier impact reconstruction.
The 2nd Edition of Motorcycle Accident Reconstruction was released in January 2022. This new edition contains:
Additional theoretical models, examples, case studies, and new test data from me and others.
An updated bibliography that cites the newest studies.
Expanded coverage of the braking capabilities of motorcyclists.
Updated, refined, and expanded discussion of the decelerations of motorcycles sliding on the ground.
A thoroughly rewritten and expanded discussion of motorcycle impacts with passenger vehicles.
A new and expanded discussion of using passenger car EDR data in motorcycle accident reconstruction.
A new section covering recently published research on post-collision frozen speedometer readings on motorcycles.
A new section on motorcycle interactions with potholes, roadway deterioration, and debris and expanded coverage of motorcycle falls.