• This course is offered online with pre-recorded modules that can be taken during any two-week period of your choosing. Depending on the student and prior experience, the course will take 3 to 4 full days.

    Office hours are not included in the on-demand format.

  • The course has been approved for up to 25 CEUs. The CEUs are awarded on attendance of office hours and successful completion of the final evaluation.

  • How is this course different from the hybrid/live course?

    The live courses include office hours, which give the students an opportunity to ask questions, troubleshoot their projects, and network with other participants. If you don’t have prior experience with PhotoModeler, we highly recommend taking the live course. Details on the next live course can be found here.

    How long will I have access to the materials?

    You will have access to the recorded modules through the duration of the course.

    Lightpoint Learning offers lifetime access to digital course materials such as the presentations themselves, equation sheets, handouts, etc. As our courses evolve with updated material and content, those materials will be shared with all prior attendees.

    Who submits my CEUs to ACTAR?

    Following the successful completion of a course, CEUs will be submitted to ACTAR by Lightpoint and should show on your dashboard within a few weeks. If for any reason they don’t, please contact Sam at smccool@lightpointdata.com.

Strengthen Your Skill Set

The Motorcycle Collision Reconstruction course equips the analyst with a firm understanding of motorcycle dynamics and current reconstruction techniques through deep review of literature, sample evidence, and exercises. The following topics are covered:

  • Dynamics of swerving and rider performance

  • Acceleration behavior, calculations, and gearing analysis

  • Sliding friction for downed motorcycles

  • Speed estimation via vehicular damage

  • Rotational mechanics

  • Rider and pillion vault analysis

  • Event data recorders and dataloggers

  • Simulation analyses for impact speed determination

  • Monte Carlo analysis to determine confidence in results

  • Introduction to motorcycle crash causation, motorcycle anatomy, and specification research

  • Review of kinematics including units, conversions, and derivations of basic equations

  • Fundamentals of motorcycle dynamics (geometry, stability, steering, weight transfer, suspension, etc.)

  • Motorcycle inspection

  • Rider perception-response time

  • Braking systems and rider performance

  • Introduction to Excel for collision reconstruction

High-Level Instruction, from the Comfort of Your Office

Over the last decade, Lou has developed and refined these materials while teaching to engineers and law enforcement officers around the world. Prospective attendees can now access this course from the comfort of their office without the need to pay for expensive travel and lodging. 

The course spans four days and allows the student to complete each day's lectures and exercises at a time that is convenient to them. 

Meet Your Instructor

Lou is a licensed mechanical engineer, an ACTAR-accredited accident reconstructionist, an instructor at Northwestern University, and a prior member of the Governing Board of Directors for ACTAR. As a forensic engineer and former Expert level roadracer, he has a unique understanding of motorcycle dynamics and capabilities. In addition, Lou has a strong understanding of rider behavior, having conducted research documenting the performance of motorcycle riders including: hazard response time, glance behaviors, and braking performance.

He has authored several publications analyzing, sliding friction, impact speed, braking performance, glancing behavior, and data from on-board recorders.

The Motorcycle Collision Reconstruction course is generally offered live once per year. If you’d like to be notified when the next live course launches, please sign up for our newsletter.

    Reviews and Testimonials

    4.7 / 5 (193 Reviews)

     
    “It was a great class! Lou is the gold standard!”
    — Student, 2021
    “I have taken a couple other motorcycle courses through the years and this is by far the best.”
    — Student, 2022
    “My motorcycle cases are now an order of magnitude better.”
    — Student, 2021
    “It left no stone unturned. I’m constantly amazed at how this field continues to advance and it’s people like yourself that will ensure investigators have access to the best training possible to help them do their work. ”
    — Student, 2023
    “I really enjoyed the class and I have learned quite a bit to apply to my job. In Law Enforcement, I know I can be better at gathering data during a motorcycle collision than I ever did before.”
    — Student, 2022
    “Excellent content and instruction! Best online education format I have experienced. Extremely enjoyable. ”
    — Student, 2023