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 2, 2014
    TRL’s road traffic safety management system to aid crash reduction in India
    To help reduce the number of serious and fatal road traffic accidents occurring in their region, the Indian State of Himachal Pradesh chose iMAAP and iMAAP mobile solutions for the management of their road accident data. Designed and developed by TRL, the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory, iMAAP is a powerful new software solution for the management, analysis and evaluation of road traffic crash data. It will provide the Himachal Pradesh Government, Police, Road Authorities and other stakeholders with
  • February 23, 2018
    C/AV integration is ‘legislative nightmare’, warns ITS UK president
    The integration of connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AV) into existing road systems “is going to be a legislative nightmare”, warned a former UK government transport minister. Giving the keynote speech at this week’s MaaSMarket conference in London, ITS UK president Steven Norris, said: “Don’t underestimate the legislative challenges – which are infinitely more complex than the technical ones. I can’t think of any development in human history which has posed so many legislative questions.” Chief among
  • January 17, 2025
    Surewise calls for mobility scooter update to Highway Code
    'Unacceptable' that users are not already termed VRUs, insurer says
  • March 28, 2019
    Speed limiters mandatory in EU cars by 2022
    Various vehicle safety measures have been given the green light by European policymakers, paving the way for speed limiters in cars by 2022. The European Parliament, Council and Commission have approved the measures, which means such technology as lane assist, drowsiness detection, advanced emergency braking and intelligent speed assistance (ISA – or speed limiters) are expected to be mandatory – if formal approval is granted - in new vehicles in three years’ time. EU commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska, res