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.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • IP revolution for CCTV systems yet to happen
    February 3, 2012
    The IP Revolution for CCTV systems which has been predicted for some years now has failed to happen, says Craig Howie, commercial director of Visimetrics Ltd. Given the many aspects of different technologies and standards involved in moving high-value, observation-critical applications into a pure digital age, this is perhaps unsurprising, he feels.
  • Nairobi looks to ITS to ease travel problems
    March 6, 2018
    Shem Oirere looks at plans to tackle chronic congestion in the Kenyan capital - where commuters can typically expect it to take up to two hours to complete a 15km journey. Traffic jams in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, are estimated to cost the country $360 million a year in terms of lost man-hours, fuel and pollution. According to Wilfred Oginga, an engineer with the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), the congestion has been exacerbated by poor regulation and enforcement of traffic rules, absence of
  • Nairobi looks to ITS to ease travel problems
    March 6, 2018
    Shem Oirere looks at plans to tackle chronic congestion in the Kenyan capital - where commuters can typically expect it to take up to two hours to complete a 15km journey. Traffic jams in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, are estimated to cost the country $360 million a year in terms of lost man-hours, fuel and pollution. According to Wilfred Oginga, an engineer with the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), the congestion has been exacerbated by poor regulation and enforcement of traffic rules, absence of
  • Nairobi looks to ITS to ease travel problems
    March 6, 2018
    Shem Oirere looks at plans to tackle chronic congestion in the Kenyan capital - where commuters can typically expect it to take up to two hours to complete a 15km journey. Traffic jams in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, are estimated to cost the country $360 million a year in terms of lost man-hours, fuel and pollution. According to Wilfred Oginga, an engineer with the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), the congestion has been exacerbated by poor regulation and enforcement of traffic rules, absence of