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All cars made since around 1990 or thereabouts have this feature. BOSCH makes a system called a Vertronics machine and it is used to record the last few seconds before a crash. The machines are not cheap and there is the obligatory couple grand a year to get updates and all that, plus the fittings to let them work on all cars. That data is used in crash investigation and reconstruction. It tells about seatbelt usage, brake pedal force and so much more. The car industry had it for years before it came out in court.
When it did finally come out, then they started selling the systems to law enforcement for reconstruction purposes. The case that led to the discovery was when a Miami-Dade PD detective got killed in a frontal crash wherein the airbags should have saved him. What they were able to determine was that the secondary frontal impact killed him, the first impact deployed the airbags but they deflated before the second impact. Something to that effect as it has been years since this happened. Years ago, I was a crash reconstructionist btw.
That said, all cars have this feature. The Tesla is far more invasive, it literally remembers everything you do while driving - hand position and all that. It does not forget. The stuff in regular cars loops and does not stay for long.
Here's a summary of the Federal law regarding event data recorders.
Federal Driver Privacy Act 2015 (S.766 — 114th Congress)
The law applies to any data retained by an EDR installed in a vehicle, and that the data belongs to the owner of the vehicle or, in the case of a leased vehicle, the lessee of the vehicle in which the event data recorder is installed. It does not matter when the vehicle was made. The Act provides that data recorded or transmitted by an EDR may not be accessed by a person other than the vehicle’s owner or lessee.
There are some exceptions:
• As authorized by a court or judicial or administrative authority, subject to the standards for admission into evidence required by that court or other administrative authority;
• If pursuant to written, electronic, or recorded audio consent of the vehicle owner or lessee;
• To carry out certain investigations or inspections authorized by federal law, subject to limitations on the disclosure of personally identifiable information and the vehicle identification number;
• To determine the need for, or facilitate, emergency medical response in response to a car accident;
• For traffic safety research, so long as the personally identifiable information of the owner or lessee and the vehicle identification number is not disclosed
Here's a summary of the Federal law regarding event data recorders.
Just know that your insurance company will get it if there is ever a case with a rally bad crash and a reconstruction team worked on it. If one was speeding or whatever, they’ll use that to diminish the payout or to assign some percentage of fault to the driver.
Whenever law enforcement uses this stuff, it is always with a search warrant. That is standard procedure for working those.
01-25-22, 02:33 PM
Vehicle Data Recorder
