Your car probably carries something called a “black box”-one of those devices you may have read about on airplanes. Officially called Event Data Recorders, or EDRs, they have become standard equipment on most modern vehicles. They do not capture the audio and visual input like their aviation counterparts, but they do capture critical data that can tell the tale of what happened in those crucial seconds before and during a crash.
Think of that black box in your car as an involuntary witness testifying to various aspects of the operation of your vehicle. In today’s data-driven world, it is increasingly important to understand what those devices record and how the information may affect you.
What Does a Car’s Black Box Record?
Most modern cars have black boxes or EDRs that commonly record your speed, acceleration, braking pattern, and steering angle, among others, and whether your seatbelt was buckled up. They monitor the deployment of airbags, RPM of the engine, throttle position, and changes in velocity relative to a collision are recorded in the EDR.
That data shows you exactly what your car was doing before and at the time of a crash. It operates continually to overwrite old data until a triggering event saves just the last few seconds before a crash and a brief period thereafter.
When Did Vehicles Start Using Black Boxes?
You might think that black boxes are recent inventions, but they have been in service a little longer than you may be expecting. General Motors installed them in the 1990s, mainly beginning with airbag-related performances. In 2014, all vehicles were mandated by federal regulations to install EDRs. That means most of the cars that you see on the road today have those boxes inside their vehicles.
How is Black Box Data Utilized?
The major application of the black box data is in the investigation and analysis of a crash. It gives details on what might have contributed to an accident, whether one applied the brakes before impact, or one was doing a speed greater than the limit. Insurance firms use the data for evaluating claims and for making determinations of when liability is.
Manufacturers and safety researchers also use aggregated EDR data in an attempt to refine the overall design of in-vehicle safety systems. So, when you hear about new safety features in today’s cars, much of their innovation comes from analyzing patterns in black box data from real-world crashes.
Conclusion
Indeed, a black box in your car, being one of the most valuable pieces you find within modern vehicle safety, plays an important role in the accident investigation process. You might never get to a position to need such information, but understanding what it records and how it will be used can help you make quite some major decisions in the aftermath of such incidents.
As the technology of the on-wheel motors advances, the penchant for better road safety understanding and improvement will even make the EDRs refined. Remember, while that black box riding in your car may seem like some sort of mysterious technology, in truth, it plays an enormously important role in keeping our roads safe.
