Resultant Delta-V Estimation from EDR Data Recorded in Automobiles that have Undergone Impact-Induced Yaw Rate
Micky Marine
Published: 2025/9/30
Abstract
There are several references in the public literature that discuss the effect impact-induced yaw motion has on the measurement of acceleration, vis-\`a-vis accelerometers, in automobile collisions [1], [2], [3], [4]. It is well-understood that direct integration of accelerometer data does not provide accurate velocity components for a vehicle undergoing appreciable rotational motion whether the accelerometers are installed at the vehicle center of gravity or not. Direct integration of accelerometer data is, nonetheless, how event data recorders (EDRs) calculate Delta-V components and care must be taken on the part of the analyst in interpreting this information when the vehicle from which it came was known to have experienced significant yaw motion. As such, in this paper we set out to: (1) examine whether the correct resultant Delta-V at the center of gravity can be determined from the directly-integrated EDR Delta-V components, and (2) to assess what useful Delta-V information can be readily gotten from EDRs that are typically not installed at the vehicle center of gravity.