Event Data Recorders or “Black Boxes” May Soon be Mandatory
By Daniel E DAngelo Esq on March 22, 2013
Most people have heard of the “black box” used in airplanes to reconstruct what happened or failed prior to a crash, but don’t know that most cars currently have a similar device also known as an Event Data Recorder (EDRs). I first became aware of the existence of such devices in cars about 12 years ago when I was gathering evidence to reconstruct an automobile collision involving several teenage drivers who were allegedly racing their cars just before one car wrecked killing one person.
The original purpose of EDRs was to collect data to help improve vehicle safety but that same information is now used by law enforcement and accident reconstruction experts to help prove or disprove liability in automobile related injury claims. EDRs may provide data, such as vehicle speed, engine throttle, brake use, ignition cycle, safety belt status, air bag deployment, and crash forces like lateral and longitudinal changes in velocity. The current federal law on EDRs and what data elements EDRs must capture can be viewed on the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations at 49 C.F.R. 563.
Unfortunately, you can’t just connect your computer to a car’s EDR, and download the information and know what it means; often an accident reconstruction expert with the proper equipment and software must be hired to retrieve the information and interpret it. This of course, can be very costly and is usually cost prohibitive in most cases.
Although EDRs are now fairly common in most vehicles, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing a law to make EDRs mandatory for all passenger vehicles less than 8,500 lbs. beginning September 1, 2014. The proposal can be viewed here. Hopefully, one day in the not too distant future as the marriage between computer technology and cars increases, car manufacturers will begin making this information more easily available to automobile accident victims to help prove liability and their injuries from car collisions.
