Dealing with perception in a traffic accident
What we are really dealing with can be summed up as:
1. Point of possible perception. When was the earliest point that a driver could have noticed a problem up ahead.
2. Point of perception. At what point did the driver perceive a problem?
3. Perception Delay. The difference in time that the driver did notice a problem compared with when he or she could have noticed a problem.
What are we talking about when we deal with perception involving an accident?
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What they are looking for if you have been in a vehicle car accident.
Why is this important?
If the time difference between the point of possible perception and the point of actual perception is enough that the driver could have acted to avoid a collision, there may be some liability there. As an example, let's say John Doe is driving up the road texting on his cell phone. John Smith pulls out of his driveway and John Doe never sees the other car and plows right into the side of the Smith car. Even though Smith pulled out, Doe may be held partially culpable for not reacting to the danger ahead. In states when fault is decided by percentages, this can be important.
Let's break this down further. John Doe is driving at 50 MPH in a 35 MPH zone. Therefore, he is traveling at 50(MPH) X 1.466 (set number for this calculation to get feet per second from the miles per hour) =73.3 feet per second. Doe is in good health and at his age of 35, the normal reaction time, from the time a driver sees a problem and can get his foot from the gas to the brake is 1.5 seconds. So in that 1.5 seconds, he would travel 73.3 feet per second x 1.5 second reaction time=109.95 feet. Because he was speeding, he plowed into the Smith car. Had he been doing the 35 mph, would this accident have occurred?
Naturally, there is a lot more too dealing with perception in an accident. If you have questions about your accident, consult with an attorney or accident reconstruction expert to see if perception played a role in your collision