Summary

Engineering scientists in motor vehicle crash investigations use forensic evidence to measure and analyze the variables involved in a car crash. Crashes and Collapses examines forensic cases and investigative methods from the forensic engineering sciences, which include the physical sciences as well as all of the engineering fields. The engineering sciences dominate forensic investigations of events underlying civil disputes while also playing an important role in criminal investigations, especially in those in which a crime has been disguised as an accident.

Crashes and Collapses provides middle and high school students with a unique look at this area of forensic science. After providing a history of forensic engineering science, this compelling new volume goes on to introduce Newton's laws of motion, which underlie accident reconstruction; the critical-speed-scuff method for determining the speed of cars; the obstacles confronting forensic investigators; and more. The book also provides enlightening looks at specific cases of crashes and collapses, presenting both the facts and analyses.

Chapters include:

• History and Guiding Principles of Forensic Engineering Science
• Accident Reconstruction: Getting Started
• Accident Reconstruction: Moving into High Gear
• Speed from Critical-Speed Scuffs
• A Double Murder Poorly Disguised as an Accident?
• The Crash of the Merchant Vessel Tamano
• Subway Stop
• Crane Collapse
• Scaffold Collapse
• Bringing It All Together: Lessons Conveyed.

Specifications

Black-and-white photographs and line illustrations. Index. Glossary. Cross-references. Sidebars. Further reading. Web sites. Tables.

About the Author(s)

Thomas L. Bohan, Ph.D., received his degree in physics from the University of Illinois-Urbana. He is currently the director of MTC Forensics in Portland, Maine. He has published articles in refereed physics and forensic science journals and is on the editorial board for the Journal of Forensic Sciences. Bohan is also president-elect of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and a board member of Forensic Specialties Accreditation Board. He is listed in American Men and Women of Science and Who’s Who in America. He lives in Peaks Island, Maine.