Event Data Recovery

An event data recorder (EDR), is sometimes referred to informally as an automotive black box. It is a device installed in some automobiles to record information related to traffic collisions. In the US, EDRs must meet federal standards, as described within the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations 49 § 563.5.

The term EDR generally refers to a simple, tamper-proof, read-write memory device. Some EDRs continuously record data, overwriting the previous few minutes until a crash stops them, and others are activated by crash-like events, such as sudden changes in velocity and may continue to record until the event is over, or until the recording time is expired. EDRs may record a wide range of data elements, potentially including whether the brakes were applied, speed at the time of impact, and steering angle.

Most EDRs in automobiles and light trucks are part of the airbag control module, which senses impact accelerations and determines what restraints to deploy. After the deployment or non-deployment decisions are made, if there is still power available, the data are written to memory. It is also possible that no data can be recovered from a data recorder.

Contact us today for further information on imaging data from an EDR.