In the first chapter this paper presents a historical review of the different momentum based impact calculation methods used in accident reconstruction to deal with different types of collisions. The theory and limitations of the calculation methods is presented.
A set of real accident situations is investigated in the paper. Collisions with sliding contact, without sliding contact and structural failure are analyzed and the calculation methods to deal with these collisions are presented. The different collision types are then compared regarding change of velocity as a mean to estimate the occupant stress level and to calculate the deformation energy (EES – energy equivalent speed) as a measure for deformation severity.