As a car was proceeding in the right lane, a bicyclist entered the road from a driveway to the driver's
right. The driver saw the bicycle entering his lane of travel and applied the brakes hard in an attempt to
avoid a collision. Unfortunately, the car was unable to stop in the available distance and a collision
occurred. The bicyclist claims the driver was going well in excess of the speed limit. The driver says he
was not speeding. Who is telling the truth?

1. Brainstorm with your group and write questions about what you need to know about the
scenario in order to answer this question. Be prepared to share your thinking with the class.

2. Discuss with your group what factors contributed to the accident. Make a list of the factors and
indicate if they are measurable and how they can be measured.

3. Research factors commonly examined in accident investigations. Summarize your findings.

4. Brainstorm with your group what factors are the most reliable when predicting the speed of a
car and list them below. Be prepared to share your thinking with the class.

5. Using the factors your class decided upon, which factors are independent, which factors are
dependent. How are the factors related?

6. Conjecture about what type of mathematical model could be used to predict the speed of the
car using the factors from #5. Be prepared to share your thinking with the class.