Bicycle Accident Reconstruction for the Forensic Engineer [Paperback]

James M. Green (Author), Janet Green (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 18, 2001

This engineering text is directed toward Forensic Engineers who are interested in determining the causal factors of bicycle accidents. The author, a Professional Engineer and competitive cyclist and triathlete, has organized the engineering literature for this purpose. He also has detailed laboratory data and actual accident reconstructions for the readers' use.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jim Green is a Professional Engineer with over 20 years in reconstructing bicycle accidents. He continues to race competitively at the national level in triathlons. His company has utilized laboratory data, engineering literature and actual accident reconstructions to bring a level of confidence to the causal factors of bicycle accidents.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

 Many people in the State of Maryland would like to know something about what happens legally when two persons are divorced in Maryland. There is no single place that people can look to for such general information. They could hire an attorney, however, paying an attorney for general, non-specific information does not appeal to many people nor is it cost efficient. On the other hand, going to the library is an answer, but where do you begin to look? What do you look for? How can you be sure that you have found everything you need to know? Besides, a law library can be a very unfriendly place. Because there is no other source of such quick, condensed information available, and because the public has a basic right to know such things since the most personal aspects of their lives are governed by these laws, I decided to write this book.

     The NON LAWYER'S GUIDE TO DIVORCE IN MARYLAND is designed to give a non-lawyer a basic idea of the rights, responsibilities and liabilities which arise under the current laws in Maryland governing divorce, alimony, child custody, visitation, marital property, domestic violence, and contempt and enforcement of court orders; but this book is not intended to be a substitute for the advice of an attorney for a specific case. Throughout this book I have referred to certain statutes and rules of court and I have sometimes quoted them (in fact, some ofthe more important ones are copied in the appendix at the back of this book); this is for the general background information of the reader. Where it applies, I will also sometimes refer to the fact that an area of the law, or an interpretation of the law, has come about as a result of decisions of the courts. I will not directly cite any court cases or specific decisions, however, because the interpretation of case law is often a! very technical matter and is best left to a competent attorney who has a complete knowledge of the particular facts necessary to properly apply the law to a given situation (namely, your particular facts and your special situation if you have one). You should also remember that the law changes from time to time when the courts decide new cases. With this in mind, you might not wish to attempt to file and try your own divorce case based solely upon what is written in this book; rather, it is suggested that you get the advice and assistance of your own attorney, especially when the issues are very technical. This book can be used as a general guide to help you know what questions to ask, what personal information you may need, and what can be expected generally and can be used to assist you if you decide to "do it yourself". B. A. Raum, Ellicott City, Maryland 2001

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing (December 18, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1553690648
• ISBN-13: 978-1553690641
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 7.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #607,081 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent content marred by sloppy presentation, May 14, 2011

By 

Peter Bergh (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Bicycle Accident Reconstruction for the Forensic Engineer (Paperback)

I will only detail the major problems with chapter 16 (pp. 123 through 131), which are representative of the kind of things I don't like about the book.

The author uses several different symbols for the same thing (e.g., C and Cg for the center of gravity) and uses undefined symbols (e.g., all symbols when he uses conservation of momentum to derive a speed). BTW, he does not bother to tell the reader that he is using conservation of angular momentum as opposed to the more common linear momentum. Furthermore, he uses symbols in text where such use serves to save a few keystrokes and to confuse the reader (e.g., "the direction the C travels under various conditions").

The chapter contains two "Figure 1", neither of which has properties claimed by the author (see next paragraph).

There are incomplete and grammatically incorrect and, thus, confusing sentences (e.g., "An examination of Figure 1 reveals that an arc is drawn around This represents a cyclist rotating around the handlebars when enough to allow the Cg to rotate around the handlebars." on page 124). To add insult to injury, (the second) Figure 1 contains no arcs other than the ones representing the bicycle wheels.

The author appears to not know the difference between mass and weight (bottom of page 125) and to not know how to convert between the two (calculation on top of page 126).

On pp. 125-128, he states repeatedly that the symbol M stands for the weight of the rider. Since the weight of a bicycle is somewhere between 10 and 50 pounds (I'm no bicyclist, so this estimate may be unnecessarily coarse) and the weight of a rider is around 130 to 200 punds, there needs to be a justification for ignoring the weight of the bicycle.

The second Figure 1 is not legible; one can make out the drawing but the text cannot be read.

"Since the force applied must go from zero to 250 pounds, it should be averaged by dividing by 2." This is valid only if the increase from zero to 250 punds is linear. The author does not justify -- or even mention -- that the increase is, in fact, linear.

In the author's use of angular momentum (pp. 126-8), he does not mention what the symbols mean. This lack makes it impossible to verify that his derivation is correct and that his approximations are reasonable.

Should the author want me to detail all my complaints about the book, he can contact me at [e-mail].

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bicycle accident reconstruction, March 1, 2009

By 

Michael S. Johnstone (Asheville, NC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bicycle Accident Reconstruction for the Forensic Engineer (Paperback)

Mr. Green is a seriously qualified engineer and his book is well written and very specific in illuminating this intriguing subject.He may be the best forensic engineer in the country for this topic.