Black Boxes: Event Data Recorders
Thomas M. Kowalick · 2005
This book describes the Motor Vehicle Event Data Recorder (MVEDR), a relatively new, on-board piece of equipment in passenger automobiles. The MVEDR is the automotive equivalent of an airplane's flight recorder or black box and can be used to solve the mysteries of car crashes and improve road safety. The reader is taken inside the automotive industry and the government highway safety establishment to foster an understanding of the politics and the positions on all sides of this safety debate. The author focuses on the end-process of the regulatory initiatives. The chapters cover background and evolution of on-board vehicle devices, the USDOT/NHTSA Regulatory proposal, responses from a wide variety of organizations and stakeholders, new research material about EDR crash test evaluations and accuracy, and legal and privacy issues. The book includes a bibliography, glossary of relevant terms, a list of vehicles that have automatic recording capabilities, a chronological summary of key events, and a glossary of acronyms and abbreviations.