Pedestrian and bicycle accidents in the United States result in approximately 80,000 and 50,000 injuries each year, respectively. Though pedestrians and bicycles move differently, they share important characteristics as both have little protection during a roadway collision with a motor vehicle. Therefore, to minimize the risk of injury, cyclists should wear helmets and both should obey traffic laws. The responsibility to avoid collisions also rests with motor vehicle drivers, who must obey traffic signals and yield to pedestrians and cyclists when appropriate. In many accidents, the visibility of pedestrians and cyclists to drivers, and vice-versa, is of central concern.
We have experience in many aspects of pedestrian and bicycle accidents including:
Through scientific analysis, we can help you answer pertinent questions such as:
Bus Striking Boy in Crosswalk:
A young boy was crossing a street with his aunt in New York City. Before he reached the other side, he was struck by a city transit bus whose driver claimed to have had a green light. We were able to show, based on the timing of the lights and measurements of the roadway, that the bus driver had more than enough time to perceive and react to the boy in the crosswalk and could have safely stopped the bus before impact, and further that the boy was not walking unusually slowly.
Child Darting onto Roadway:
A car driver struck a boy running across a wide, busy roadway. Based on one accident investigation, it was not clear why the boy and driver did not see one another before the impact. We hypothesized that there must have been a nearby traveling vehicle between them obscuring the line of sight. A deposition witness later testified that such a car was present. This cleared the driver of negligence and resulted in a minimal settlement.
Kristopher J. Seluga, PE, is a Mechanical Engineering, Accident Reconstruction, Biomechanics, and Safety Expert with over 20 years of experience. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Mechanical Engineering department at MIT where he worked on the development of novel three-dimensional printing technologies. Mr. Seluga is also a licensed Professional Engineer in New York and Connecticut, and has served as a member of the ANSI engineering committee for the Z130.1 and Z135 standards for golf cars and PTV's. His research interests and peer reviewed publications span the topics of Motor Vehicle Dynamics, Product Safety, and Biomechanics.
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5/14/2009· Accident Investigation & Reconstruction
By: Shawn Gyorke
While the information recorded on event data recorders (EDRs), commonly referred to as vehicle black boxes, is tremendously helpful in determining how a traffic accident occurred and in improving safety, it was not until recently that EDR data was legally challenged in Illinois and ultimately accepted
9/24/2014· Accident Investigation & Reconstruction
Forensic Clues: Accident Reconstruction
Accident reconstruction involves attempting to determine the sequence of events of an accident and is a crucial part of product liability cases. Understanding exactly what occurred in an accident gives an engineer the best chance of preventing the accident from occurring again. Often there is limited information to base conclusions on what really happened in an accident. Understanding what goes into accident reconstruction will help attorneys understand what information is crucial to this process. Witness testimony is unreliable at best but must be analyzed and cross referenced with the other available information.
3/3/2015· Accident Investigation & Reconstruction
Forensic Clues: Material Science and Accident Reconstruction
Material science is a broad field that has applications in numerous fields. In product injury cases, material science can help identify defects, determine causes of accidents, determine failure modes, and identify inconsistent manufacturing processes.
