DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
49 CFR Part 563
Docket No. NHTSA-2004-18029
RIN 2127-AI72
Event Data Recorders
AGENCY: �National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
SUMMARY: This proposal addresses event data recorders (EDRs), i.e., devices that record safety information about motor vehicles involved in crashes. Manufacturers have been voluntarily installing EDRs as standard equipment in increasingly larger numbers of light vehicles in recent years. They are now being installed in the vast majority of new vehicles. The information collected by EDRs aids investigations of the causes of crashes and injuries, and makes it possible to better define and address safety problems. The information can be used to improve motor vehicle safety systems and standards. As the use and capabilities of EDRs increase, opportunities for additional safety benefits, especially with regard to emergency medical treatment, may become available.
We are not presently proposing to require the installation of EDRs in any motor vehicles. We are proposing to (1) require that the EDRs voluntarily installed in light vehicles record a minimum set of specified data elements useful for crash investigations, analysis of the performance of safety equipment, e.g., advanced restraint systems, and automatic collision notification systems;� (2) specify requirements for data format; (3) increase the survivability of the EDRs and their data by requiring that the EDRs function during and after the front, side and rear vehicle crash tests specified in several Federal motor vehicle safety standards; (4) require vehicle manufacturers to make publicly available information that would enable crash investigators to retrieve data from the EDR; and (5) require vehicle manufacturers to include a brief standardized statement in the owner�s manual indicating that the vehicle is equipped with an EDR and describing the purposes of EDRs.
DATES: You should submit your comments early enough to ensure that Docket Management receives them not later than [INSERT DATE 60 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER].
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments [identified by the docket number in the heading at the beginning of this document] by any of the following methods:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The following persons at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC, 20590:
For technical and policy issues:
Dr. William Fan, Office of Crashworthiness Standards, telephone (202) 366‑4922, facsimile (202) 366-4329.
For legal issues:
J. Edward Glancy, Office of the Chief Counsel, telephone (202) 366-2992, facsimile (202) 366-3820.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: