Black Box Recorders To Be Mandatory In All Vehicles Under DGT And EU Plans
Spain News
Published: 27 October 2021 15:26 CET
It has been announced that Spain's traffic authority, the DGT (Dirección General de Tráfico) plans to make black boxes compulsory next year, in all vehicles.
The new law will come into effect at the same time as the anti-start breathalyser device that all vehicles will be required to have installed by July 6, 2022. It has also been reported that by 2024, it will be a legal requirement for all new cars coming out of dealerships to have both devices installed.
At present, neither law has been approved but given that a precise date has been released, it is inevitable that it will go ahead.
Initial plans were to have both the breathalyser and the black boxes a requirement for passenger and professional vehicles only, however, the EU is keen to take things one step further and wants to also apply the new law to private vehicles.
The black box (EDR) will be installed underneath the driver's seat, bolted to the chassis. It will work in the same way that a black flight box works in aircraft, by recording important data when an accident occurs. This data can then be used at a later date if it is needed.
The box will consistently record information but then it will be erased. The device, however, will not record any audio or video and the origin of the data will remain anonymous.
In agreement with an EU law that was published in 2019, the black box will only be activated should a serious crash occur, in a similar way in which an airbag operates. Information will be recorded during the previous 30 seconds and the following 5 seconds after the crash has taken place.
The black box will record the speed the vehicle was travelling at, the final placement of the accelerator pedal, the deceleration, the angle of the movement of the vehicle should the car turn over and the operation of seatbelts.
In its rulings, Brussels specifies that “these devices must record and store anonymised data, so that Member States can use them to carry out road safety analyses and evaluate the effectiveness of specific measures that have been adopted, without the possibility of identifying the owner, or the owner of a specific vehicle”.
When an accident has taken place, an investigator will be able to download all relevant data by simply connecting the black box to a computer. It is believed that the data collected will enable authorities to have more of an understanding of traffic accidents, therefore helping them to improve road safety without exposing the driver's identity.
By imposing compulsory driver assistance systems equipment, the EU estimates that 25,000 road fatalities and 140,000 serious injuries will be prevented in the next 15 years.
Motor.elpais reports that the EU points out that “the registration of information on road accidents constitutes a valuable step to obtaining more precise and comprehensive data on accidents.”
Sources
https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2021/10/27/dgt-to-make-black-boxes-mandatory-in-vehicles/
https://motor.elpais.com/conducir/las-cajas-negras-llegaran-a-los-coches-en-2022/
