Crash Data Retrieval

Crash data retrieval was introduced in the early 1980's by General Motors and for some time G.M. were the only manufacturer’s of automobiles that made this technology available as standard equipment on all of there vehicles. It was not until the late 1990's that Ford and Chrysler implemented this technology into their vehicles. From approximately the 2000 model year, both Ford and Chrysler made this technology available on most of there current models being manufactured today.

The Asian and European vehicle’s that are presently being imported and built in North America are not equipped with CDR capabilities and are not under any obligation to equip there vehicle’s with accessible CDR equipment. There has been many rumors that by 2012 all Asian and European manufacturers importing vehicle’s and building vehicles in North America will have to incorporate accessible CDR technology into there vehicles in order to meet all legislation applicable to what necessary equipment should be present in a vehicle to meet all the North American standards. The implementation of accessible CDR into Asian and European vehicles being built and imported into North America could still take years before you will see across the board acceptance of CDR. With CDR being a privacy issue the implementation and acceptance of all the Automobile manufacturers importing and building in North America could take a number of years before this technology is widely accepted.

Crash data retrieval records data from many areas of the vehicle, enabling investigators to gain important information which might make it possible to determine what took place when there are no witnesses to an accident. Predominately the Insurance Industry, Independent appraisal firms, Personal injury lawyers and Private Citizens have used our CDR Service in the past to determine certain criteria about a collision that might have occurred were airbags did or did not deploy. Depending on the extent of the collision damage to the vehicle, in most cases the owners or the insurers want to know what the last recorded speed, braking patterns and other critical data from the vehicle. This will enable them to make an accurate and informed decision to who might be at fault for the collision and did the airbag system known as the SRS system which is short for Supplementary Restraint System work as per manufacturer’s specifications.

Speed being the main cause of collision, this is the first question we get asked, if we can tell what the last recorded speed was of the vehicle involved in the collision. If the vehicle in question is on the list from Bosh as being equipped with CDR, then the answer will be yes, but if the vehicle is not equipped with CDR it can be considerably more difficult to retrieve this information. When CDR is performed on a vehicle the results are printed out by the CDR equipment on a court approved evidence report, which is accepted by the courts as being a true and accurate form of evidence being that these reports can not be tampered with and computers don’t lie. When this information can not be extracted from the vehicle, being that it is not equipped with CDR equipment it would be called into question by the courts as weather it can be relied upon as being truthful and accurate information, being that this information was not directly printed from the memory of the SRS control module when accessed by CDR equipment. Again it all comes down to credibility, the firm handling the investigation, how long have they been doing these types of investigations, the credibility of the investigator and the methods used to gain the critical information that can make the difference on the out come of a legal proceedings.

Here at Safety Restraint Systems Inc. we feel within a 5year period starting from 2010 that it will become law that any vehicle imported or being build in North America will have to be equipped with CDR Technology. The more sophisticated the vehicle’s become, the more important it is to be able to access any or all technical data from the vehicle. This will give any investigator an accurate and concise over view on the operation and drivability of each and every vehicle being built or imported into North America. This type of data will help the Police and the Insurance Industry in combating fraud and also make it possible for the Automobile manufacturers to find and eliminate technical inefficiencies and improve the overall safety of vehicles in the future.