The Scientific Visualization of Motor Vehicle Accidents

This paper describes the use of scientific visualization as a tool for investigating the cause of motor vehicle accidents. A specific accident is reconstructed and simulated. This simulation data is then presented three ways: (1) as a table of numeric results, (2) as a 2-D, graphical simulation viewed from above, and (3) as a fully rendered, 3-D scientific visualization. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are explored, specific data requirements for each method are described, and conformance criteria with preliminary SAE guidelines are reviewed. A distinction between the terms “animation”, “simulation”, and “scientific visualization” is also provided.