Citation

Bartlett WD. Collision 2007; 2(1): 64-69.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Collision Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued the final rule on event data recorders for passenger vehicles (49CFR Part 563) in 2006. The rule mandates that EDRs be capable of surviving the frontal impacts specified in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208 and the lateral impacts specified in FMVSS 214. This article examines EDR durability in light of these survivability requirements. The history of EDR survivability in air and rail travel compared with the Part 563 requirements is outlined and the impact pulses that electronic devices are commonly exposed to are described. The article also discusses the general nature of the crash environments being specified, based on a review of several NHTSA tests. It addresses EDR survivability observed in some nonspecified crash and damage modes and summarizes the anticipated success rates of current EDR technology with regard to Part 563 durability requirements. The observed durability of individual components and completed EDR assemblies suggests that the current passenger vehicle EDRs should not have any difficulty meeting the survivability requirements outlined in Part 563.