Whenever a plane crashes, the most important thing that crash investigators look for is the plane’s indestructible “black box,” or flight recorder. This technology records flight information like the plane’s speed and altitude, as well as noises and voices in the cockpit. Using this information, crash investigators can often piece together what happened shortly before the airplane crashed.
This technology is now standard for new cars. Chances are, if your vehicle was manufactured in the last five years, your vehicle will also have a black box which will record information about your driving. As of September 1, 2014, all vehicles sold in the United States must have a black box, known as an Event Data Recorder (EDR) installed.
EDR technology has been in development for decades. In 2006, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a new ruling which created a timetable for automobile manufacturers to place the devices in new cars.
Unlike the EDRs in airplanes, these recorders do not focus on using video or audio monitoring of the driver and passengers. Instead, they focus on recording things like speed and braking patterns in case of an accident. The NHTSA listed up to 30 different types of data that the EDRs should record, including pre-crash speed, changes in velocity, airbag deployment times, engine throttle, and brake use. Many vehicles even have sensors under the driver seat, which will record the driver’s weight at the time of the collision—keeping people from claiming that someone else was driving the car at the time of the accident.
The EDRs will generally record two types of events: deployment and non-deployment events. When a vehicle is in a collision, but the airbags do not deploy, the EDR will save the data recordings from directly before and during the crash for a limited period of time. When the airbags do deploy, this information will be permanently saved and cannot be erased.
The information that these black boxes record is not easily available to the general public. In order to access the data, consumers would need a special data retrieval tool, which costs several thousands of dollars. As a result, most people will never have access to the data unless they see a mechanic or other specialist for that specific purpose. Usually, the only people accessing this data will be accident investigators, who have access to the tools necessary to download the information from the car’s computer.
As EDR technology has improved, it has become more common for this information to be used in criminal investigations or personal injury cases. One notable example occurred in 2011 when Timothy Murray, Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, totaled a government car. Murry said that he lost control on an icy road, and claimed to have been wearing a seat belt and driving the speed limit at the time of the crash. Black box data later showed that Murray was not only not wearing a seat belt, but was driving 108 mph at the time of the collision.
Similarly, this information can be extremely beneficial in reconstructing accidents and proving a personal injury case. Rather than rely on the recollection of the driver or passengers, the EDR systems allow investigators to see exactly which factors may have contributed to the accident. The EDR systems are not flawless, however, and can record data inaccurately or fail to record any data at all if they are miscalibrated or severely damaged.
The attorneys at Fighting for People Injury Law, work hard to stay up-to-date on changes in technology and the law. If you are ever injured in an accident, rest assured that our Pennsylvania and New Jersey injury attorneys will have the knowledge and experience you need on your side to prove your case.
For a free consultation about your rights and legal options after an accident, call 215-396-9660 today.
