On 21-23 September 2016, the Illinois Association of Technical Accident Investigators (IATAI) held their 30th annual traffic crash reconstruction conference in East Peoria, Illinois. As part of the practical exercises, two police officers drove through a nearby intersection for speed testing. This was captured using a dash camera, a traffic camera, and a racing quality GPS.

The dash camera is not a high-precision instrument, but a low-cost imaging device easily accessible to the general public. The camera used in testing was found to have a low resolution, significant lens distortion, and poor optics. Even with these limitations, dash camera video velocity analysis was able to extract precise high resolution velocity data from the image sequence. This data was compared to a high sample rate GPS designed to accurately measure speeds for racing, and found to be comparable. Dash camera video velocity analysis has proven to be a precise and useful capability for the modern accident investigator.