Physics is all around us. From the laws of gravity to the acceleration of a car, everywhere we look there is energy, force, and motion that are essential in our daily lives. One example of how physics is used is vehicular accident reconstruction, a process usually led by forensic engineers. Vehicular accident reconstruction is finding out how an accident was caused, reconstructing the event for further details, and preventing similar incidents from occurring in the future. Law enforcement agencies depend on reconstruction of a crash to determine how an accident started, especially when people have died or are severely injured for reasons unknown. Larger departments or companies also use the work of forensic engineers to make roads safer and maximize the crash-resistance of motor vehicles.

In order to reconstruct an accident, a forensic engineer must first inspect the crash site. They take measurements of the vehicles’ positions. Point of impact, final resting positions, skid marks, scrub marks, and gouge marks are all recorded and measured as every bit of information is important in any investigation. Electronic surveying equipment is used to aid the forensic engineers to eventually create a computer-generated scale diagram to reconstruct the crash. The second step would be determining the crash reconstruction using physics equations such as those we have learned in Mr. Morrison’s chemistry class. Applied force, acceleration, force of friction, and more are all found by the information gathered at the scene of the accident. The speed of the vehicles, where they were positioned during the crash sequence, pre and post impact, length of pre-impact skid marks, friction values for various surfaces of point of impact, impact angles, and weights of the vehicles are all variables needed for crash reconstruction (Motor-Vehicle Crash Reconstruction Services).

The final step of the investigation is making sure there were no other variables that caused the accident. Forensic engineers test all the mechanics of the involved vehicles such as brakes, steering, tires, suspension, lights, and other possible causes of the accident. Finding problems with vehicle components such as these often result in callbacks of car models to ensure that no one else is injured by faulty manufacturing. However, if there are solutions to common safety problems from the results of the tests, crash reconstruction can benefit more than those involved in a singular car accident. Car companies use vehicular crash reconstruction to improve their safety ratings and car designs. Such improvements made by physics have revolutionized the safety of vehicles.

Cars have greatly improved from their initial manufacturing in the early 1900’s. The vehicles made by Henry Ford were legendary during his time, but his cars would not survive in the fast moving, powerful world of today. Air bags, padded dashboards, and seat belts are just a few of the countless advances in car design that have occurred thanks to physics. The laws of physics and the studies of car crashes, like vehicular accident reconstruction, have helped to keep the public and consumers of modern vehicles safe. Newton’s First Law of Motion states that “an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force” (Newton’s First Law). This law of motion has greatly improved car safety and aided the jobs of forensic engineers and other scientists. For example, this law can be applied to a crash situation. Let’s say someone is not wearing a seatbelt and is the passenger of a car going 60 mph. If that car suddenly stops or hits a resting force, then the passenger will be thrown through the windshield. In addition, because the passenger is not stopped by another force such as a seat belt, they are thrown through the windshield at the same force of motion they were previously at: 60 mph. This information helps scientists better protect passengers and car buyers of the future.

Scientists are constantly trying to make cars safer. However, even though the number of lives lost to car crashes has decreased, the number of vehicle-related fatalities for the United States in 2012, was still a shocking 33,561 (Reid Wilson, Figure 1). The study of physics can help bring that number down. By finding out how car crashes affect the human body using the laws of forces and motion, scientists can prevent the deaths and damage caused by car crashes. It’s similar to the egg drop project frequently taught in schools. The egg can be symbolic to the fragile human body, the container the car, and the drop can be considered the force of the crash. Solving the remaining safety issues is like insuring the safety of the eggs during the egg drop. Scientists need to determine in what way cars generally crash, how that affects passengers, and what needs to be done to prevent future fatalities. Scientists are close to perfecting the safety of cars, but a lot must be done to lower the annual deaths of thousands of Americans.

It’s amazing how much physics plays a role in our daily lives. To study physics and better understand the laws of our universe is to better understand how it all affects us. Risk and danger will always be a factor, but by using the tools we have, humanity can reduce that risk and save the population from future loss. The accomplishments that humans have accomplished such as skyscrapers, cars, airplanes, and more are now popularly used by the majority of the world. With the help of physics, those same wonders of the world can be made safer for everyone to use. Science began that futuristic journey. Physics perfects the end result, and in the process, saves lives.