Want to know the truth about what happened during a car crash?
Look past unreliable eyewitness testimony that changes every time it’s recounted. There’s a small device tucked away inside most modern cars recording the facts of a collision.
It’s called an event data recorder (EDR) — but you may know it better as a black box.
EDRs are completely changing how lawyers win and lose car crash cases.
Let’s dive in…
What you’ll find in this article:
- What Is A Black Box Data Recorder?
- Why Black Box Data Matters For Car Crash Cases
- What Data Gets Recorded (And How It’s Used)
- How To Preserve Black Box Evidence After A Crash
- Why Hiring A Car Accident Attorney Is Essential
(Estimated Read: 4 minutes)
What Is A Black Box Data Recorder?
Contrary to popular belief, most vehicles aren’t made without a black box.
Similar to what you’d find on a plane, black boxes in cars are small data recorders usually located within or near the airbag control module that automatically collect vehicle data during the moments before, during, and after an accident.
Most car owners don’t know they exist.
According to industry estimates, approximately 96% of modern passenger vehicles already have EDR capability. So as you can imagine, black boxes are quickly becoming ubiquitous when talking about newer vehicles on the road today.
While recording audio and video of your travels isn’t likely, EDRs do log numeric data from a handful of sensors surrounding the time of impact.
And that can make or break your case.
That’s why having a competent car accident attorney on your side matters after a crash. A skilled car accident lawyer in Minneapolis who routinely deals with automobile accidents will know how to preserve this information before it’s lost forever.
Why Black Box Data Matters For Car Crash Cases
Alright, now imagine a standard car crash…
Driver A gets into a wreck with Driver B.
Both drivers have two different accounts of what happened. You couldn’t find any witnesses who stopped to help. The police report doesn’t offer too many details.
As a result, both insurance companies are pointing fingers at each other trying to prove who’s at fault.
It’s a bad situation.
Without some sort of concrete evidence, almost every car accident seems to come down to “he said, she said.” Thankfully, that’s where black box data is becoming a game-changer.
Black box information allows you to fact-check a driver’s statement. That’s because EDRs provide objective data that cannot lie.
Vehicle speed, brake usage, airbag deployment timing — these are all telltale signs that demonstrate what the vehicle was doing before it collided with something else.
Data from EDRs is being used more and more during civil AND criminal court proceedings. Drivers have been sentenced and acquitted based on what their vehicle’s black box exposed. Because data doesn’t lie.
Imagine how many of those 39,345 fatal accidents in 2024 could have been prevented by knowing exactly what happened.
What Data Gets Recorded (And How It’s Used)
As mentioned above, black boxes record vehicle movement data.
More specifically, when a crash or rapid deceleration is detected by a vehicle’s EDR, it records and stores information such as:
- Vehicle speed: How fast the vehicle was traveling before impact
- Braking: Whether or not the driver applied the brakes before impact
- Steering: Direction the vehicle was traveling before the crash occurred
- Seatbelts: Whether seatbelts were being worn by the driver and/or front passenger
- Airbags: When airbags were deployed and if they successfully deployed
- Collision force: The severity of impact measured by the change in velocity (Delta-V)
Under newly released federal guidelines coming into effect January 2025, automakers are now required to equip EDRs with the ability to record 20 seconds of data before a crash at 10 samples per second. Previously, this minimum standard was set to 5 seconds at 2 samples per second.
Long story short? More data is better data.
Why? If a person claims they were driving the speed limit and hit the brakes, but the black box shows they were speeding and did NOT apply the brakes — that’s game over for their case.
How To Preserve Black Box Evidence After A Crash
But here’s the kicker.
If not dealt with properly, black box data can actually be lost.
Let’s say a driver got into an accident and didn’t happen to call an attorney right away. When that happens, the risk of the EDR overwriting any previous data increases if:
- The vehicle gets moved
- The vehicle gets repaired
- The vehicle is scrapped
EDRs work on what’s called a loop system. Meaning, once the memory storage reaches its limits, it automatically starts back at the beginning to record new data. That’s why time is of the essence.
Immediately following a car accident, make sure to:
- Avoid moving the vehicle (if possible)
- Document the scene and file a police report
- Call an attorney right away (who knows how to deal with EDR information)
- Request the data be preserved before the vehicle leaves the lot
Under the Driver Privacy Act of 2015, EDR data belongs to the vehicle’s owner. Though, you’ll need an attorney who can acquire a court order or subpoena to gain access to the data.
Why Hiring A Car Accident Attorney Is Essential
Bottom line: Black box data is powerful information.
But raw data won’t win your case. It takes skilled legal professionals who know how to interpret EDR information and translate that into something a judge will understand.
You don’t want to risk your evidence to:
- Get lost if it’s not properly preserved after a crash
- Become worthless if not analyzed by a professional
- Become inadmissible if the lawyer doesn’t follow proper protocol
Winning a car accident case isn’t easy. Insurance companies have entire departments dedicated to weeding out valid claims.
Partner with an attorney who knows how to capitalize on black box information and even the playing field.
The Bottom Line
Black boxes are quickly becoming standard issue when discussing modern automobiles. Their ability to log impactful data that irrefutably proves who was at fault during an accident makes EDRs some of the most powerful evidence available today.
Remember:
- Almost every modern car has a black box.
- Black boxes store information such as vehicle speed, braking, seatbelt use, airbag deployment, and more.
- Federal regulators now require automakers to preserve 20 seconds of pre-crash data.
- Black box data is preservable evidence and can be lost if not handled properly after a crash.
- You need an attorney to access a car’s black box data.
