Autoblog

Submit your questions for Autoblog Podcast #312 LIVE!

Dan Roth — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:15:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Plants/Manufacturing, GM, Honda, Jeep

We record Autoblog Podcast #312 tonight, and you can drop us your questions and comments regarding the rest of the week's news via our Q&A module below. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our UStream (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.

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Submit your questions for Autoblog Podcast #312 LIVE! originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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White House clears way for NHTSA to mandate vehicle black boxes

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 10:16:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, Ford, GM, Mazda, Toyota

At present, over 90 percent of all new vehicles sold in the United States today are equipped with event data recorders, more commonly known as black boxes. If the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gets its way, that already high figure will swell to a full 100 percent in short order.

Such automotive black boxes have been in existence since the 1990s, and all current Ford, General Motors, Mazda and Toyota vehicles are so equipped. NHTSA has been attempting to make these data recorders mandatory for automakers, and according to The Detroit News, the White House Office of Management Budget has just finished reviewing the proposal, clearing the way. Now NHTSA is expected to draft new legislation to make the boxes a requirement.

One problem with current black boxes is that there's no set of standards for automakers to follow when creating what bits of data are recorded, and for how long or in what format it is stored. In other words, one automaker's box is probably not compatible with its competitors.

Expect all these issues to be worked out "in the coming months," according to NHTSA spokeswoman Lynda Tran.

White House clears way for NHTSA to mandate vehicle black boxes originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 07 Dec 2012 10:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In-car black box regulation still on track for September 1

Zach Bowman — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, Technology

According to The Detroit News, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is set to move forward with new rules governing the standardization of data recorders on new cars. The rules will take effect on September 1 of this year.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers had petitioned NHTSA to postpone the requirement until at least September 1, 2013, but the government agency rejected the appeal. The group said that manufacturers that are currently using older event data recorders may simply disable the devices to comply with the new rules since the regulations don't actually force new cars to have the black boxes. General Motors, for example, has said it will disable some event data recorder functionality on both Chevrolet Malibu and GMC Savana models.

The rules aim to standardize exactly what information EDR modules collect and the format with which the devices store the data. Manufacturers will be required to record 15 vehicle parameters. Right now, a total of 90 percent of new vehicles for sale in the U.S. have EDRs. Eventually, NHTSA expects to mandate the technology on all new vehicles. Such a mandate was originally expected to fall at some point this year, but has been repeatedly delayed by the government agency. NHTSA estimates it will cost around $24.4 million to include the recorders the remaining 10 percent of unequipped models.

In-car black box regulation still on track for September 1 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Senate OKs mandatory black boxes in cars for 2015, House expected to follow

Jeff Sabatini — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:31:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety

It's been working its way through Congress for years, but according to Car and Driver, an event recorder mandate could soon become law. The Senate has already voted to adopt a transportation bill that would make the so-called "black boxes" mandatory by the 2015 model year. According to the report, the House of Representatives is also expected to pass a similar statute.

While the specifics of the bills are "vague" - to use C/D's words - they're also likely to change before becoming law. What probably won't, according to the report, is the standard data set that the Department of Transportation has set forth, 15 measurements that include direction of acceleration, throttle position, and time that the airbags fired, among others.

This raises the specter of government snooping, of course. The Senate version at least specifies that the data contained in the little electronic box is actually owned by the owner of the vehicle, according to the report. Johnny Law can still come around with a warrant to gain access to it, however, and first responders and paramedics would be able to do so without the warrant, provided they needed the information to respond to the emergency.

Senate OKs mandatory black boxes in cars for 2015, House expected to follow originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 May 2012 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NHTSA expected to mandate black boxes in all cars next month

Jeff Glucker — Tue, 24 May 2011 14:31:00 EST

Filed under: Technology

Are you ready for a black box to be installed in your car? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration apparently is. According to a new report from Wired, NHTSA is expected to rule next month that all new cars will need to carry just such a device.

Now, before you get all "Screw the Gubment!" in the comments, you should know that many modern cars already have black box systems installed - you might have one and not even know it. General Motors, for instance, has been installed the electronic data recorders since the 1990s, on almost all vehicles fitted with airbags.

The concern for most drivers, however, lies with what type of information is captured, and who has access to it. Also, different automakers use different Electronic Data Recorder devices. A black box standard needs to be developed, which would allow for the data retrieved from an EDR to be consistent regardless of the vehicle make it's pulled from.

Some view this mandate as an invasion of motorists' privacy. However, the data recovered from the black box systems can provide crucial insight into crash dynamics. Exactly who's allowed to view that information varies by state, of course, and only 13 states currently have legislation in place regulating the release of EDR data.

What do you think, is this a good idea, or a bad one? Have your say in Comments.

NHTSA expected to mandate black boxes in all cars next month originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 24 May 2011 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Toyota admits black box bug can give false speed readings

Zach Bowman — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 10:28:00 EST

Filed under: Recalls, Safety, Technology, Toyota

Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota executive vice president in charge of research and development, has confirmed that a software glitch has caused the company's event data recorder readers to misinterpret speeds during accidents. According to Automotive News, the executive admits that his company had previously underscored the fact that it couldn't say whether or not there was a problem with the black boxes themselves. The software bug in the readers came to light during the manufacturer's investigation into instances of unintended acceleration. Even so, Uchiyamda (above, left) says that there's no reason to doubt the rest of the readings from the EDRs.

Both Toyota and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration have found that in the majority of runaway vehicle cases, driver error has been to blame, though some incidents were caused by entrapped accelerator pedals.

Despite the problem, Uchiyamada has warned against using the EDR reader defect to discredit all of the data collected by the devices, noting that the glitch has since been remedied and that the rest of the readings accurately recorded.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req. | Image: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty]

Report: Toyota admits black box bug can give false speed readings originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 14 Sep 2010 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Toyota's event data recorders have a history of problems

Zach Bowman — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 11:28:00 EST

Filed under: Safety, Technology, Toyota

According to a report in The Washington Post, the event data recorders the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration used to investigate claims of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles have a history of problems. In one incident, a Toyota pickup that struck a tree in a single car accident was recorded as going 177 mph - far faster than any T100 we've ever seen. A separate reading from the same device put the truck's speed at a more feasible 75 mph. The article even says that Toyota itself has warned about the reliability of data collected from the so-called black boxes by stressing that the recorders were not intended to be used as crash-reconstruction devices. In the recent past, Toyota has already been accused of being 'secretive' about providing access to their black box data.

The EDRs in question apparently also have a history of being inaccurate about more than just speed. In another case, the device onboard recorded that both passengers had their seat belts unbuckled at the time of impact when in reality, one individual was safely buckled in.

Unfortunately, government researchers have little other recourse when it comes to substantiating or refuting claims of runaway Toyota products. NHTSA just recently released a preliminary report saying that over half of the instances in which the vehicles seemed out of control were actually attributable to the driver applying the wrong pedal at the wrong time. The Washington Post has indicated that the unreliability of the EDRs leaves some question as to the validity of those findings. They may have a point. Thanks for the tip, FYI!

[Source: The Washington Post | Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty]

Report: Toyota's event data recorders have a history of problems originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: U.S. safety bill could triple cost of automotive black boxes to $5,000

Zach Bowman — Mon, 31 May 2010 18:41:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety

When word first came down that Congress was looking to mandate that all new vehicles to be sold with Event Data Recorders, we knew that the added tech was going to be pricey. According to Automotive News, if legislators have their way, the new automotive black boxes will need to be both fire resistant and waterproof. Add in a significant amount of recording time before and after an accident, and suddenly the price tag per unit could soar up to a lofty $4,000 to $5,000. Currently, the EDRs track about five seconds worth of information just before an accident, though some legislators are pushing for up to 75 seconds of recording pre-crash. Between the fire insulation and added recording time, analysts believe the devices will swell to shoebox size, also creating a new packaging issue for automakers.

And who's going to be shelling out the cash for the indestructible, mammoth recorders? The short answer is the automakers, though you can bet they won't just be soaking up the cost out of the goodness of their hearts. Odds are that $4,000-per-box price tag will be passed right along to consumers if such devices become law, so don't be surprised to see sticker prices climb if the boxes become mandatory in 2015.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req.]

Report: U.S. safety bill could triple cost of automotive black boxes to $5,000 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 31 May 2010 18:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: House committee passes bill requiring black boxes, brake overide systems

Zach Bowman — Thu, 27 May 2010 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety

A massive auto safety overhaul bill has made its way out of committee and onto the floor of the House of Representatives for voting. According to Automotive News, the biggest changes that the bill proposes is the mandatory addition of black boxes and brake override mechanisms to all new cars and trucks. The event-data recorders would track information shortly before and after an accident for a specified period of time in order to help investigators determine the cause of an accident. Legislators and manufacturers alike began to push for the recorders in the wake of multiple accidents associated with Toyota's unintended acceleration woes.

Originally, the bill would have required the black boxes to record data for a total of 75 seconds, though the House Energy and Commerce committee changed the legislation to allow the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to determine the length. The bill also deals with regulations concerning pushbutton starts, pedal placement and a number of other auto-safety issues. If the bill passes the House of Representatives, it will be sent to the Senate for a final vote before becoming law.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req.]

Report: House committee passes bill requiring black boxes, brake overide systems originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 27 May 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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USA Today investigates how automotive 'black boxes' can help recreate accidents

Jonathon Ramsey — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Safety, Toyota

Long before shows like CSI misled the public about how long a DNA test takes and introduced the mythical world of "zoom and enhance," airplane black boxes were making people think you could minutely recreate an air disaster if you could just get the box. Not so. Turns out that quite a few cars sold in the U.S. have black boxes as well, with the same limitations: you can retrieve a certain set of data from them, but its quality and usefulness varies.

Toyota has been phasing black boxes into its cars since 2001, but stresses that the data collected is for "general safety research, not accident reconstruction." The data collected comes from several collection points like the acceleration and airbag modules. While it can help solve a case like the one of the zooming Prius in New York, where the woman was actually pressing the accelerator and not the brake, in other cases it won't prove effective, such as when the data being gathered is from the same corrupt source that's part of the problem.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has laid out some uniform regulations to cover black boxes from 2012. Just about every automaker selling cars here uses them, but they collect different data and an owner's access to that data differs across the country. Carmakers are generally in agreement with the new regs, but want to push the date back a year to fall in line with vehicle development timelines. The bigger issue, though, isn't what a black box is going to record, but what it will do with those recordings, who can get to them, and how easily.

[Source: USA Today]

USA Today investigates how automotive 'black boxes' can help recreate accidents originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GM comes out in support of black box legislation

Sam Abuelsamid — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:29:00 EST

Filed under: Safety, Technology, GM

As of today, when incidents like sudden acceleration happen, it's extremely difficult to diagnose conclusively what the cause was. Without a mechanism to track exactly what the driver did, what the vehicle sensors detected and how the vehicle responded, it usually ends up being a he said/she said situation.

Thus, in the wake of recent allegations of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles, a movement has begun to equip all cars with black box data recorders.
Representative Gene Green (D-TX) has already introduced legislation that would mandate the installation of such event data recorders, or black boxes, in all new vehicles.

General Motors has now come out publicly in favor of the proposal. GM has been installing event data recorders in its cars since 1995 as part of the air bag system. In accidents where the airbags are triggered, GM can use the data stored in the EDR for diagnostic purposes to improve the function of its safety systems. The recorders save the last few seconds of data before a crash from a number of sensors. GM is not only supporting the installation of these recorders in all vehicles, but also supports making the data accessible so that accident causes can be more accurately determined.

[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading GM comes out in support of black box legislation

GM comes out in support of black box legislation originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NHTSA creating universal standard for automotive 'black box'

John Neff — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:58:00 EST

Filed under: Gadgets, Government/Legal, Technology

Though you may not realize it, your car is probably equipped with an automotive 'black box'. Also known as Event Data Recorders, these devices record information from a vehicle's various sensors during a crash - everything from airbag performance to the angle of the steering wheel to the speed of the vehicle is retained. Though an estimated 90 percent of new vehicles are shipped with the devices, each manufacturer uses their own hardware, software and file formats.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will rule on a universal format for Event Data Recorders in the next 30 days, according to Automotive News. While not going so far as to make EDRs mandatory in every new vehicle, the ruling will create a standard format for data collected by EDRs across many different vehicles. The Society of Automotive Engineers has been given the task to come up with the universal format.

The new ruling will only cost automakers about $8 million, which isn't much in the grand scheme of things. To date these black boxes have aided in voluntary recalls and accident investigations, and automakers claim they're used to make vehicles safer. Of course, the real debate is whether information recorded by an EDR can be submitted as evidence against a driver in court. In that case, Big Brother may now be riding shot gun.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. required]

NHTSA creating universal standard for automotive 'black box' originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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