CRASH DATA RETRIEVAL AND ANALYSIS AFTER AFTER VEHICLE COLLISIONS
The Bosch Crash Data Retrieval System (CDR) is a tool that allows investigators to examine a vehicle’s relevant data from the moment of an accident. The data is stored in the vehicle’s Restraint Control Module, which helps to reconstruct the course of events during an acccident.
With the help of Event Data Recorders (EDR) the Restraint Control Module stores data short before and during an accident. EDR are already integrated in most modern vehicles today. The EDR is a device or function that stores non-volatile data over a time period from right before the crash as well as during the crash. Typical examples for parameters that can be registered are: the velocity, the seatbelt status, the steering wheel angle, and the status of the airbags. Storing crash data is proven useful for investigations after accidents. The CDR is a tool that makes the data retrieval possible.
The advantages of integrating EDR in vehicles were published in a report by the Transport Research Laboratory for the EU Commission in 2014.
The conclusion of the report is the following:
«EDR data provides accurate and reliable information on the timing, chronology and actions taken in the pre-crash phase. This provides hard data where there are currently only estimates, and means that accident reconstructions and research can utilise this higher quality information to make better, more robust conclusions» (Hynd & McCarthy, 2014).
In order to make light vehicles accessible for crash data retrieval, the integration of an EDR is officially required by Federal Law in the United States since 2001. Therefore, it can be regarded as a tool of great reliability, proven through countless samples, research, and litigations. The usage of a CDR for crash data retrieval is a known procedure for investigators and accident investigations in North America and Europe.
Simco purchased the relevant equipment in order to make it suitable for the European and Nordic automotive market and had the necessary training concerning the usage and the analysis of crash data. We cooperate closely with EUDARTS, which is an expert group composed of experts in automotive electronics and accident investigation in Europe. In cooperation with EUDARTS we created SKDARTS which is the Scandinavian division of EUDARTS.
The availability of the collected data is dependent on the year of production, brand and model of the involved vehicles. Currently, the Bosch CDR System is best suited for models from 1994 on and subsequently for brands that are common in North America as well as many brands in Europe. However, they are constantly working on supporting more car models.