July 1, 2024, 6:28 am | Read time: 3 minutes
In accidents, questions about the causes and exact sequence of events are always central. That’s why all new cars will soon be equipped with something previously known only from airplanes: a black box.
It is a sad reality that the widespread use of cars not only increases people’s mobility but also motorized danger. When an accident occurs, emergency responders are heavily engaged in finding the causes. To improve future investigations, cars will soon only be approved if they are equipped with a black box.
Overview
Like a Black Box – EDR is Mandatory in Cars
This is according to a plan by the European Commission that was already decided in the summer of 2022. The “New Vehicle General Safety Regulation” includes the mandatory use of so-called Event Data Recorders (EDRs). They serve a similar function in cars as the black box does in an airplane.
At that time, the regulation required manufacturers of new vehicle types to install the corresponding devices. From July 7, 2024, these must also be present in all new vehicle registrations. As the ADAC explained, this applies to classes M1 (passenger cars) and N1 (commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tons). From January 7, 2026, and January 7, 2029, classes M2, M3, N2, and N3 will follow according to the definition of the Road Traffic Licensing Regulations.
How an EDR Works
The Event Data Recorder continuously records data. However, it only stores relevant information under certain conditions, 5 seconds before and 300 milliseconds after an accident. As ADAC TECHBOOK reports, this ensures that only data directly related to the crash event is recorded and stored.
An EDR is usually located in the airbag control unit, where all important information from the acceleration sensors converges, and this is used by the device to trigger data recording. Relevant data includes engine speed, steering angle, speed, or airbag activation, as explained by the automobile club.
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Data Protection and Possible Actions
“Data protection is ensured because only the driver or owner has access to it,” assures us the ADAC. The car black box stores the data only locally on the vehicle.
In the event of an accident and civil or criminal proceedings, it can be read out via the vehicle diagnostic system interface (OBD) or through the airbag control unit. This could be commissioned by a court or the public prosecutor’s office, for example.
Do Consumers Need to Do Anything?
In principle, the regulation will only apply to newly registered vehicles. According to experts, a retrofit obligation for consumers is “hardly conceivable with a vehicle fleet of nearly 50 million vehicles in Germany.” So anyone buying a new car from July 7, 2024, can assume that a black box is installed.
For the ADAC, this is a good thing: “The ADAC welcomes the new legal regulation because it allows for better assessment of an accident event.” However, they emphasize that the black box should “not be used as the sole source for accident reconstruction” in investigations and should only serve as support. For example, the device can only record information about its own car and not about other road users.