Skip to main content

TRL calls for EU crash data law update

TRL is calling for an update to UK and EU automotive legislation to allow police, insurers and road safety researchers access to event data recorder (EDR) information. EDR is the equivalent of a black box that records a range of data from safety systems fitted to the vehicle in the seconds before, during and after a collision. The data helps provide information on the actions taken before a crash – which TRL says will be vital in understanding what an autonomous vehicle or its safety driver were doing j
August 29, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

491 TRL is calling for an update to UK and EU automotive legislation to allow police, insurers and road safety researchers access to event data recorder (EDR) information.

EDR is the equivalent of a black box that records a range of data from safety systems fitted to the vehicle in the seconds before, during and after a collision. The data helps provide information on the actions taken before a crash – which TRL says will be vital in understanding what an autonomous vehicle or its safety driver were doing just before an accident, for example.

Dean Beaumont, accident reconstruction consultant for TRL’s expert witness team, says EDR provides a more accurate investigation into road collisions, specifically regarding “causation and liability”.

“In the UK and EU, manufacturers are slowly allowing access to this data, but this only applies to a very small number of vehicles,” he continues. “Sharing of EDR data should not be placed above lives in serious and fatal collisions.”

Related Content

  • April 5, 2017
    Autonomous vehicles will not prevent half of real-world crashes
    Alan Thomas of CAVT looks at the reality behind the safety claims fuelling the drive towards autonomous vehicles
  • April 1, 2019
    C-ITS in the EU: ‘A little tribal’
    As the C-ITS Delegated Act begins its journey through the European policy maze, Adam Hill looks at who is expecting what from this proposed framework for connected vehicles – and why some people are insisting that the lawmakers are already getting things wrong here are furrowed brows in Brussels and Strasbourg as European Union legislators begin to consider the rules which will underpin future services such as connected vehicles. The idea is to create a regulatory framework to harmonise cooperative ITS
  • April 1, 2019
    C-ITS in the EU: ‘A little tribal’
    As the C-ITS Delegated Act begins its journey through the European policy maze, Adam Hill looks at who is expecting what from this proposed framework for connected vehicles – and why some people are insisting that the lawmakers are already getting things wrong here are furrowed brows in Brussels and Strasbourg as European Union legislators begin to consider the rules which will underpin future services such as connected vehicles. The idea is to create a regulatory framework to harmonise cooperative ITS
  • April 14, 2014
    Argyll and Bute Council pioneer the roll-out of MAAPcloud in Scotland
    MAAPcloud, the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory’s (TRL) advanced cloud-based accident management and data analysis software system, has been chosen by Argyll and Bute Council to help them reduce the number of casualties and serious injuries on their roads. Designed by road safety experts at TRL, MAAPcloud supports local authorities, police forces and other road safety stakeholders in making vital road safety investment decisions. The system is intuitive to use and utilises modern cloud-based technologi