Event data recorders (EDRs), more commonly known as black boxes, are installed in approximately 85 percent of current automobiles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines an EDR as a device “in a vehicle that records the vehicle’s dynamic, time-series data during the time period just prior to a crash event or during a crash event, intended for retrieval after the crash event.” However, automotive privacy was recently front and center when, on March 14, the U.S. Senate passed a transportation bill making event data recorders mandatory in all new cars. On the state level, it should be noted that there is pending Pennsylvania legislation regarding EDR data currently under review by the Committee on Transportation.
Historically, black boxes were synonymous with airplane crashes. The data downloaded from these boxes was a powerful tool for aircraft accident investigative engineers. The use of black boxes in automobiles dates to the early 1970s, when the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) made several recommendations that automobile manufacturers and the NHTSA gather data on crashes using onboard sensors and recorders. Within a few years, General Motors began installing early versions of EDRs in its vehicles.
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