Crash Data Retrieval
Active safety features are common in newer vehicles such as Adaptive Cruise Control (AAC), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), Forward Collision Warning (FCW), and Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB). These features are a major step towards autonomous driving vehicles. However, what happens when one or more of these features do not work as intended? Two recent deaths have occurred involving Uber and Tesla vehicles testing driverless systems. On March 18, 2018 a pedestrian pushing a bicycle was fatally struck by a Volvo SUV. Five days later a Tesla SUV crashed into a road divider in Mountain View California.
In this rapidly changing world, traditionally available data captured by the event data recorder in the airbag control module must now be used in combination with additional tools to analyze these increasingly complex motor vehicle accidents. I had the opportunity to attend the 2018 Event Data Recorder (EDR) Summit in Houston, Texas. The EDR summit brought together industry experts from around the world and focused on event data recorder research, collection, and analysis for vehicle crash investigations. Two of the conference topics I found particularly interesting include:
Forensic techniques can be used to analyze vehicles equipped with ADAS technology (windshield camera and bumper radar). If the vehicle can be powered on, then the settings for collision warning sensitivity can be verified and it can be determined if emergency braking was disabled. We can then correlate the EDR data to the expected emergency braking deceleration profile to determine if the automatic emergency braking functioned correctly.
Tractor trailers equipped with Bendix brakes may also be equipped with a Bendix Data Recorder (BDR). This data recorder is contained within the anti-lock braking system electronic control unit. The BDR records information that can aid in motor vehicle accident investigations such as the vehicle speed, steering angle, and accelerator pedal position. This data allows the investigator to recreate the moments leading up to the accident.
Caskanette Udall Consulting Engineers possesses a Bosch Crash Data Retrieval Tool which we use to collect crash data from the airbag control module. This tool supports coverage of 56% of vehicles in the US/Canada Market with new vehicle models being added yearly. As of Spring 2018 the Bosch Crash Data Retrieval Tool now supports retrieving the event data recordings from Tesla vehicles. The number of Tesla-manufactured vehicles on the road in Ontario continues to increase making this compatibility useful for motor vehicle accident investigations. Contact us if you require our accident reconstruction services or if you wish to have us perform a CDR download to retrieve information that may be stored on a vehicle. This allows you to preserve important data and is useful for both insurance and litigation purposes.
