English, 7 pages, 10 figures
Keywords: damage patterns, minor collision

A classic example of a side-on collision occurs when a car reversing from a parking bay is struck by a second car moving at right angles to the first. At low speeds it is of particular interest whether the first car was moving at the moment of impact. In most cases, if we are only able to inspect footage of the damage, it is only possi-ble to prove that the car was moving if a there was a secondary contact with an offset. In the zone of primary contact, rigid parts of the second car leave marks which can be used to draw conclusions about the movement of the first. For such analyses, a detailed documenta-tion of the marks is indispensable. When the difference in the speeds of the two cars is larger, the deformation is stronger and even an in-depth analysis of the marks will be unable to give definite conclusions about the movement of the first car.