Vehicle Black Box Crash Data Recoders
Who owns the data?

Did you know that vehicles today are equipped with an event data recorder (EDR)? No. You’re not alone. Very few drivers know that there is a small device buried deep inside their car or truck, commonly referred to as a “black box.” Today about 96 percent of all new vehicles sold in the United States have an automotive black box.

If you are in an accident, black boxes will contain crash data – moment-by-moment statistics saved from the car’s most recent collision. There’s speed, acceleration, braking – even information from inside the car like seat belt buckle status and airbag deployment. It provides the details seconds right before and after a crash. Black boxes cannot be turned off.
Black boxes

have long been used by car companies to assess the performance of their vehicles. However, they are increasing being used by the insurance companies as evidence in traffic accidents. This opens the debate over privacy and questions over who owns the information, and what it can be used for, even as critics have raised questions about its reliability.

There are no clear standards in use today, including in Florida, but fourteen states have passed laws that say that, even though the data belongs to the vehicle’s owner, law enforcement officials and those involved in civil litigation can gain access to the black boxes with a court order.