Transportation Department to propose mandatory black boxes in passenger vehicles?

many years back, the dept of Transportation recommended that auto makers give car owners a heads up after they slip event data recorders — often known as “black boxes” — into new models. Now, it looks as if the dept is thinking about taking its policy a step (or several) further: a memo reveals that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to propose later this year that each one new passenger vehicles have EDRs. Up to now, heavy-duty vehicles look like excluded, and either way, it’s unclear what number of years auto makers may have to work black boxes into their future products. Interestingly, after we asked a DoT staffer for clarification, he reminded us that the agency hasn’t issued a statement and said he wasn’t sure where Wired and other outlets were getting their information. Indeed, the Transportation Department hasn’t proposed this type of law yet, though it’s pretty safe to mention it’s at the least pondering it. Hit the source link to pore over the 197-page doc for yourselves (tip: we suggesting paying particular attention to page 54). [Warning: PDF source link]

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This post is tagged: Department of Transportation, national highway traffic, national highway traffic safety, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, traffic safety administration, transportation department