Motorcycle-to-car impact: influence of the mass of the rider in the calculation of the relative impact velocity

In this paper an analysis method for a collision between a motorcycle and a car is presented, with the limitation that the frontal part of the motorcycle is involved, with wheelbase shortening. The velocities of the vehicles before the collision are usually the most important information for analysis of an accident and its causes, and therefore the methods to succeed in estimating these velocities are of great importance. The work focuses on finding an empirical formulation for the relative velocity between the motorcycle and the other vehicle, starting from the kinetic energy loss due to the collision and allowing for the mass of the motorcycle’s rider at the moment of collision. The equation was found by numerically simulating seven different impact configurations between a car and a motorcycle, with various impact velocities and masses in predefined ranges. Experimental crash tests conducted between a car and a motorcycle and the use of a high-speed video camera allowed the motion of the two-wheeler and its driver to be studied during the impact. A series of tests on crashes between a motorcycle with a rider and a vehicle was carried out, which also allowed validation of the formulation found.