Abstract
When analyzing vehicular crashes such as those at intersections, it is often necessary to postulate the motion of vehicles from stationary positions. Typically, an assumed constant acceleration is defined, and motion calculated. In many cases, however, when the motion of interest is near the starting position; simply assuming a constant rate of acceleration may be inappropriate. In this paper, acceleration profiles as a function of time are examined in order to identify errors associated with the constant acceleration assumption for a passenger car and a large truck. The paper also includes acceleration data collected from 219 large trucks measured over distances of 50 and 100 feet. (A)