Your car is watching you.
Cars today are equipped with the capability to record seat-belt usage and the driver’s speed, which are sometimes used as evidence in accident investigations.
James Kerr, program manager for Vetronix Corp., said the data recorders are part of “air bag modules.” When the car is involved in an accident, the module records data from five seconds before the event and some data afterwards.
According to Vetronix, the air bag doesn’t have to deploy during an accident to initiate the data recorder. The information stored after an accident in which the air bag doesn’t deploy will eventually be erased.
Vetronix, a California based corporation, sells what they call a “Crash Data Retrieval System.” The Vetronix CDR system consists of hardware and software that downloads pre-crash and crash data from the vehicle’s air bag module to a laptop computer.
Crash data recorders are predominately used by General Motors, according to Vetronix. The Sensing and Diagnostic Module has been used by GM since 1994. The Restraint Control Module has been used in select Ford vehicles since 1998.
Although the devices go by different names, the generic name is air bag module, Kerr said.
Detective Mark Rice, an accident investigator for the Columbus Division of Police, reconstructs accidents and uses a data recovery system in his investigations.
Vehicle speed, engine speed, whether the brake was pressed, the position of the throttle and if a seat belt was being worn are some of the things recorded by the more recent modules, Rice said.
“It’s important to properly interpret and use the data from the crash data recorder,” Rice said. “A good reconstruction of the accident must first be done.”
Rice said the data from the recorder is used as corroborative evidence, not as primary evidence.
“The data collected from the recorders isn’t viewed until we have reconstructed the accident through conventional means such as measurements and eyewitnesses,” Rice said.
Rice recounted an investigation in which data on whether a seat belt was being worn was recorded incorrectly.
“The CDR recorded that the seat belt was not buckled, but paramedics and eyewitnesses stated that the seat belt had been fastened,” Rice said. “There is a hierarchy to what is recorded during an accident and if there is a loss of power some of the data further down the chain may not be recorded properly.”
The crash was severe enough that the CDR lost power and didn’t record the seat belt being fastened. The default setting was that the seat belt wasn’t buckled.
“The primary purpose for the device is to deploy the air bags; everything else is secondary,” Rice said.
“We reinforce the theme, on a recurring basis, that CDR data supplements a good reconstruction, but should never be left to stand alone,” said Brad Muir, moderator of an online group comprised of CDR users.
There are also issues of privacy. The decision on who actually owns the data recovered hasn’t been made yet, Rice said.
The use of data collected from the air bag modules is spreading into the private sector, product liability litigation and insurance industry, Muir said.
“We do encourage the respect of privacy rights,” Muir said. “We expect that the information obtained has been done so in accordance with the police service rules, or other rules of evidence and legal authority for obtaining the data.”
Muir, who also works for the Ontario Provincial Police, said sometimes a search warrant is required from a judge in order to download the data. Other times legal decisions are made surrounding the operation of the vehicle in a public place.
“Interacting with other members of the public, you have a reduced right of privacy when it comes to the data and your involvement in a collision,” Muir said.
“It makes sense to have safeguards for privacy rights,” said Peter Swire, a professor at the Moritz College of Law.
In California a new law was enacted that regulates the use of data recorders in cars – the law requires car makers to inform the car owners the recorders are in their cars. It also forbids access to the data without either a court order or the owner’s permission.
“That’s the first state to adopt such legislation on these data recorders,” Swire said. “It’s a good model for us to follow.”
“These devices will make drivers more accountable for their actions,” Muir said. “This will hopefully lead to more responsible driving behaviors. It will also lead to better roads and highways and safer vehicles by analyzing real world crashes, not laboratory crashes.”
