The U.S. Senate just passed a bill requiring all new cars in America to come equipped with a black box-like data recording device starting in 2015, InfoWars reports. Similar to the tell-all black boxes on airplanes, event data recorders (EDR) record information about an automobile crash. If you bought a car in the last decade it may already have one installed.
Black boxes, or flight data recorders as they are formally called, have been the crucial device in analyzing plane crashes since about the mid-20th century. The tamper-proof devices record the activity of a plane’s electrical systems and can even record conversations in the cockpit to understand what led to a plane crash.
Likewise, an EDR can record the details leading up to and after an automobile accident. There are several different types of EDRs, some that continuously record information and others that are activated by accident-like conditions, such as sudden decreases in velocity, airbag deployment, or slamming on a car’s brakes. EDRs often integrate with a passenger car’s restraint system and after an airbag is deployed, car system data are recorded to the device for later examination. The data can be used for insurance purposes and in court cases to determine precisely what happened during a car accident.
Senate Bill 1813, titled the “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act” was proposed by Senators Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid and is expected to be passed in the House. The text of the bill states, “Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall revise part 563 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to require, beginning with model year 2015, that new passenger motor vehicles sold in the United States be equipped with an event data recorder that meets the requirements under that part.” (Continued)
http://venturebeat.com/2012/04/19/black-boxes-for-cars/
