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Crash Data Retrieval (CDR) utilizes what is erroneously referred to as a car's "Black Box".
CDR Data is collected from a vehicle's passenger restraint, air-bag control and/or power train control systems. While there are an estimated 80 million vehicles on the road, not all vehicles have readily accessible information.
The Event Data Recorder (EDR) in an Airbag Control Module (ACM) will not tell everything that a vehicle has ever done. It won't identify who was driving or record voices in the passenger compartment. It won't give GPS coordinates where the vehicle has traveled. The system constantly passively monitors "some" vehicle data for "some" small amount of time while the vehicle is in operation. When the Airbag Controls "wakes up" due to a sudden change in a vehicle's acceleration, the system evaluates whether the change is severe enough to require activation of the airbag restraints. In a matter of milliseconds, the system will analyze and activate the level of restraint appropriate to the apparent severity of the crash event detected. Only after the restraints are deployed, will the system record any of the monitored data. However, that is providing the system still has sufficient power to record the data. The system's priority function is to deploy the restraints to protect the occupants of the car in the event of a crash. Recording data is secondary. The data that may be available depends on the year, make and model of the specific vehicle involved.
This CDR data MAY include:
Seat Belt Status, Driver Seat Position Information, Throttle Percentage, Speed, Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) and/or Brake Status, Engine RPM, Cruise Control Status and other data items. All of this data is not meant to be positive proof of anything related to the actual collision. This data must be evaluated by a competent reconstructionist in relation to the entire event to confirm or refute the validity of the data.
Currently, Wreck Technology subcontracts the crash data collection and actual cost is determined by the subcontractor's rates. Normally, CDR data is collected at the same time as the vehicle inspection. Therefore, no fees over and above those second party rates/costs are assessed or collected by Wreck Technology.
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