Search Results

Knowing motorcycle speeds at various points throughout an accident sequence is valuable in reconstructing an accident. Often, the motorcycle slides on its side for some distance during the accident sequence. In order to account for the sliding segment in the speed calculations, a suitable slide coefficient must be selected or determined. During this study, an accurate measurement methodology was developed for determining slide coefficients. Once the test methodology was established, eight different motorcycles were tested to determine their slide coefficients at 48 and 97 km/h. The test surfaces were asphalt pavement, dirt, and gravel, and the motorcycles were tested on the right and left sides. Some motorcycles were tested multiple times on one side also. The test group included standard, cruiser, sport, and touring motorcycles.

This study measured exhaust carbon monoxide of two automobiles - one without and one with catalytic converter - idling in a closed garage as well as the carbon monoxide and oxygen concentrations within the garage. As anticipated, the declining oxygen levels of the test “tricked” the carbureted car without catalytic converter into richening the mixture and thus producing dangerously high exhaust CO levels. Although the second car with a catalytic converter and on-board oxygen sensor control system initially produced low CO exhaust levels, it also eventually was “tricked” into producing high levels of CO. Thus the potential exists for a “clean automobile” to cause lethal levels of carbon monoxide to accumulate in a closed garage. In order to predict the amount of time for lethal levels to be reached, this paper develops a differential equation model which can be solved on a computer to successfully predict oxygen and carbon monoxide concentrations in a garage as functions of time.