Crash! The Science of Collisions

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Since 2002, John Kwasnoski, Professor of Forensic Physics at Western New England College in Springfield, Massachusetts, has worked on a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration funded project using automobile crashes as a centerpiece for teaching physics, physical science, math, biology and driver's education topics at the high school level.

The materials, including 33 suggested activities, are known as Crash! The Science of Collisions. Many of the activities start with a police report and students are asked to resolve the question of civil liability or criminal culpability - a very motivating problem-solving approach.

Crash! is a package of teaching materials and lab equipment. It is not a program, module or curriculum and does not introduce new topics into existing courses. The materials do not have to be used sequentially or in their entirety - they are used in existing lesson plans.
Crash! improves science and math learning. It also saves teenage drivers' lives.  By addressing safety issues in the context of science and math, it is highly effective in changing teenage risk-taking attitudes. These conclusions align with a study done by Dr. Ricardo Martinez, Executive Director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

"... presenting injury prevention within the context of a physics course

would improve comprehension of the implications of risky behavior."

                 

"Effect of Integration of Injury Control Information Into a High School Physics Course,"

Annals of Emergency Medicine, February, 1996

The cost of the Crash! package is $995.00, plus $50.00 shipping and handling.  Our experience has shown that the most promising path for a school to take to obtain a Crash! package is through funding by a local community partner such as a bank, insurance agency, car dealer, real estate company, towing service, auto body shop, or the Kiwanis, Rotary or other service clubs.
Crash! materials include:

Police drag sled to measure road friction

Model cars and road templates
Student worksheet masters

12 Occupant kinematics overlays
32 Police accident files

8 County autopsy reports
Forensic lamp evidence

New lamp bulb for comparison

Teacher's manual

Teacher's instructional videotapeCrash clips videotape

Court animation videotapeImpaired driving tests videotape

100 ft fiberglass measuring tape
Steel measuring tape

Electronic stopwatch Second Opinion reconstruction software

The Investigator software
BACSim impairment simulation software
Establishing Liability in Vehicular Accidents, by John Kwasnoski
Physics of Automobile Crashes, by John Kwasnoski

Crash! The Science of Collisions is available for purchase online by accessing our order form here. High school teachers or administrators who wish to obtain a Crash! package for their high school or who would like assistance in locating a funding resource in their community should e-mail John McGinnis , or call him at 1-800-969-8693 ext 23 for more information.