New federal standards have been put in place to require automobiles to come equipped with data collection devices. As of right now there is no standard that requires cars to collect data. The event data recorders are typically compared to the black box recorders that are installed on airplanes, and are used in the same fashion.
A new federal standard related to the kind of data that is collected by event data recorders or blackbox recorders is now in effect across the country. The new standards by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration clearly define the kind of data that must be collected by the event data recorder. The data can help aid investigations after an accident.
Event data recorders are very similar to the black box recorders that are installed on planes, and are used in investigations after a crash. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration standards which went into effect on September 1, these event data recorders should record the speed of the vehicle, electroni
c systems information, occupant sizes and other important factors in the crash.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration currently does not require that all automobiles come with an event data recorder. However, the agency is clearly moving in that direction. Some auto models currently have event data recorders, and these are often added onto the vehicle, so the owner can claim insurance benefits.
Many auto safety experts believe that soon, the federal agency could require the installation of event data recorders in all vehicle models from 2014 onward. However, this is a highly sensitive and volatile political issue, and is not expected to be taken up before the elections are over.
The standardization of the collection of data in these black box recorders across all automobiles will ensure that there is a consistency to the kind of data that is available after a crash. That can help immensely during an accident investigation. Earlier, there was no such standard for the collection of data, and different event data recorder models collected different types of data.
