A study group of government agencies, vehicle manufacturers and universities has come down squarely in favor of event data recorders for highway vehicles. The so-called black boxes have long been required for commercial aircraft.

Under the rules of the three-year study led by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the group was not allowed to make recommendations, only findings of fact. The issue of mandatory data recorders was not addressed. However, nine of the 10 findings clearly support the use of data recorders.
Those findings appeared in the executive summary of the 90-page study entitled "Event Data Recorders, summary of findings by the NHTSA Working Group." Those findings were these:
1. EDRs (Event Data Recorders) have the potential to greatly improve highway safety, for example, by improving occupant protection systems and improving the accuracy of crash reconstruction.
2. EDR technology has potential safety applications for all classes of motor vehicles.
3. A wide range of crash-related and other data elements have been identified which might usefully be captured by future EDR systems.
4. NHTSA has incorporated EDR data collection in its motor vehicle research databases.
5. Open access to EDR data (minus personal identifiers) will benefit researchers, crash investigators and manufacturers in improving safety on the highways.
6. Studies of EDRs in Europe and the U.S. have shown that driver and employee awareness of an onboard EDR reduces the number and severity of drivers' crashes.
7. Given the differing nature of cars, vans, SUVs and other lightweight vehicles compared to heavy trucks, school buses and motorcoaches, different EDR systems may be required to meet the needs of each vehicle class.
8. The degree of benefit from EDRs is directly related to the number of vehicles operating with an EDR and the current infrastructure's ability to use and assimilate these data.
9. Automatic crash notification systems integrate the on-board crash sensing and EDR technology with other electronic systems, such as global positioning system and cellular telephones, to provide early notification of the occurrence, nature, and location of a serious collision.
10. Most systems use proprietary technology and require the manufacturer to download and analyze data.
However, toward the end of report the group noted that "Data recorders for commercial vehicles might include functionality to act as electronic logbooks for drivers' hours of service."
The report also concluded that "there are unresolved privacy concerns relating to who owns the data, who can access and make use of the information (including leasing, rental and insurance companies), and who might store individual and anonymous/grouped data on a permanent basis. In the absence of more specific guidelines, data can be obtained with the permission of the vehicle's owner."
Participants in the study included the American Trucking Associations, major auto manufacturers, a number of universities and U.S. government agencies plus Transport Canada, the Canadian equivalent of the Transportation Department. Navistar and DaimlerChrysler were the only heavy truck makers involved.
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