"Calculators"
- Continued in Version 4.0
We gave our design team a free hand, and asked them to develop some special "plug-in" modules that could automate some of the calculation tasks commonly found in accident investigation and safety analysis work. Here's some of what they came up with ...
Crossing Approach
Length and Time:
| This module defines the relationship between distance traveled, time taken, and speed. Given any two of these parameters, it calculates the third. For example: |
Figure 1
| This module defines the relationship between distance traveled, time taken, and speed. Given any two of these parameters, it calculates the third. For example, how much warning time does a 2,897ft rail/highway grade crossing track circuit provide for a train traveling at 79MPH? |
Figure 2
| Enter "79" for "Speed" and "2897" for "Distance" as shown in Figure
2, and click "Calculate." The track circuit will provide 25 seconds
of warning time.
Other examples of possible calculations: 1.) How long does a rail/highway grade crossing approach track circuit need to be in order to afford a 79MPH train 30 seconds of warning time at the crossing? ... Enter "79" for Speed, "30" for Time and click "Calculate."
2.) What is the highest train speed at which a 2900 foot long track circuit will afford 25 seconds of warning time at a rail/highway grade crossing? ... Enter "25" for Time, "2900" for Distance, and click "Calculate."
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Figure 3
| Click the "English/Metric" button to perform all calculations in Metric units, as shown in Figure 3. |
Day of the Week:
| Given a date, this module displays the corresponding day of the week, as shown in Figure 4 below: |
Figure 4
| Enter the date (in the form MM/DD/YY) in the "Date" box and click "Calculate." For dates before January 1, 1930 or after December 31, 2029, enter the year using four digits (MM/DD/YYYY). |
Days Between Dates:
| This module consists of two parts. Given two dates, the first portion of this module displays the number of days between the two dates. For example, John Smith suffered an injury on 3/17/99 and did not return to work until 8/1/99. How many days was he off-duty? Enter "3/17/99" for "Date 1", "8/1/99" for "Date 2", and click the corresponding "Calculate" button. |
Figure 5
| The second portion of this module calculates a new date, given a Reference Date and a number of days before or after this date. For example, Pete Townsend suffered an injury on 1/21/00 and cannot return to work for 100 days. What is the first day he will be able to return to work? |
Figure 5
| This module can also "back-calculate" a new date based on a specific number of days prior to a Reference Date. To "back-calculate", attach a minus (-) sign to the number of days, as in Figure 6 below: |
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