VCU study examines reliability of automobile "black boxes" in crash investigations

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RICHMOND, Va. – A device that tells your car when to fire the airbag in a crash can also help tell investigators what caused the crash. The finding by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University could lead to safer cars and help police and insurance companies determine who was at fault.

The VCU Crash Investigation Team studied eight crashes to verify the accuracy of data from so-called “black boxes,” also known as “event data recorders,” which more and more law enforcement agencies are tapping to help determine the cause of mysterious crashes. Before the study, not much was known about their reliability.

One of the case studies involved a 2001 Corvette that ran off a winding road in rural Virginia on a clear, dry day and crashed, instantly killing the 55-year-old driver. By plugging a laptop computer into the black box that fired the powerful car’s airbags, VCU crash investigators were able to verify what happened five seconds before impact.

The palm-sized device, located in the car’s dashboard, indicated the driver was not wearing a seat belt, did not brake, floored the accelerator, and traveled at about 90 mph in a 25 mph speed zone. “For a person to be going that fast and not wearing a seat belt, plus accelerating into the turn altogether indicated he intended to go that fast,” said VCU Crash Investigation Team leader David O. McAllister.

By comparing the data with the physical evidence at the crash site and information from the driver’s family that he was emotionally disturbed at the time of the crash, VCU investigators concluded the cause was likely suicide.

“The capability of downloading data from black boxes is tremendously significant to a law enforcement officer who is investigating a crash because of the ability to correlate pre-crash data with physical evidence and to state confidently what the vehicles’ speeds were at the time of the crash,” said VCU Transportation Safety Training Center Director Robert J. Breitenbach.

Black box data is the most revolutionary development in crash investigation in 50 years, according to Breitenbach, but he cautions that it must be compared with physical evidence at the scene before investigators draw any conclusions.

Currently, crash data only can be read by investigators from select General Motors and Ford vehicles built after 1993 and a handful of import cars. Not all automobile manufacturers provide the necessary access codes to their black boxes.