Tech Students Learn Accident

Reconstruction Techniques From The Pros

By Eliza Hallabeck

Newtown Police Department Officers Steve Ketchum and Dave Kullgren visited Newtown Middle School on Thursday and Friday, May 28 and 29, to share accident reconstruction techniques and tools with eighth grade students in Don Ramsey’s technology education classes.

“You’re going to see how they use the type of match formulas that you are using now in your math classes,” said Mr Ramsey to one of his classes on Friday morning.

Officer Ketchum explained to the students at the start of the class that he and Officer Kullgren go out and investigate accidents.

“When we get to an accident scene,” said Officer Ketchum, “we look at the evidence left behind.”

Evidence, he explained, can include skid marks or fluid left from vehicles.

After an introduction to the topic by the police officers, students were brought out to the school’s back parking lot to view how information is gathered from skid marks left on pavement.

While they waited for a car to be brought around to the parking lot for the purpose of creating skid marks for the demonstration, Mr Ramsey told his students that the police department’s accident investigation van was also brought for the demonstration.

“If we had time, that would be a field trip of itself,” Mr Ramsey said.

After skid marks were created, Officer Kullgren explained one of the first things an officer will do on the scene of an accident is report the length of skid marks, because they would want to capture the length before the marks disappear.

Using a friction meter device, Officer Kullgren measured the amount of friction a tire filled with cement created on the damp cement.

After Officer Kullgren measured the friction reading multiple times for optimum reliability, Officer Ketchum told the students, “We’ve gathered our data, and we’re going to go back in the classroom and analyze it.”

“This is the perfect application of the scientific method they do in the classroom,” Mr Ramsey said about the demonstration.

Once back inside, Officers Kullgren and Ketchum showed the students how algebra is used to determine how fast a car had to have been going in order to create the skid marks.

Mr Ramsey said School Resource Officer Leonard Penna had the idea to bring Officers Ketchum and Kullgren in to speak to the students.

“I really appreciated that,” Mr Ramsey said.