NHTSA Weighs Mandatory Car Black Box Requirement

In the wake of not just the massive Toyota recalls that have come since late 2009, but also the recalls of other automakers, but at least one (the other has been questioned) runaway Prius just this week, the NHTSA is reportedly examining a requirement for black boxes in cars.

Most are aware of what a black box is, at least when speaking about a airliner. There are two black boxes on airliners, one a flight data recorder and one a cockpit voice recorder. There boxes are generally thought of as normally impervious to most accidents, so that authorities can glean data on the cause of a catastrophic airline accident. There is also a black box in railway locomotives, called an event recorder.

It's not as though the idea of an automobile black box is new. In fact, the NHTSA earlier ruled on event data recorders (EDRs) in cars. In August 2006, the NHTSA released its final ruling, which set EDR standards, but also did not require mandatory EDR installation.

Instead, the NHTSA noted that there was already an overwhelming trend for voluntary EDR installation by manufacturers, which its analysis estimated would lead to 85 percent of vehicles having EDRs by 2010. It warned, however, that if the trend did not continue it might re-examine its ruling.

However, while the NHTSA set minimum standards on the type of data that must be recorded, it did not truly standardize the black box itself. For example, Toyota's EDRs are different from those installed on cars from Detroit automakers. The Toyota system requires a special analytic device, and according to David Strickland, administrator of the NHTSA, a Toyota representative must help interpret the information.

He made the statement during a subcommittee hearing of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Safety advocates have called for EDRs to be required on all automobiles. Strickland, in his testimony, said the NHTSA would “evaluate the benefits of mandatory event data recorders in vehicles.”

Toyota has recalled millions of cars over "unintended acceleration" due to sticking gas pedals. The company said that Priuses were immune, to that issue, as it has a different gas pedal.

In late 2009, though, Toyota did recall 2004 to 2009 models of the Prius because of what it described as interference between the driver's floor mat and the accelerator pedal. The owners of this week's runaway Priuses claim their floor mats were not caught in the pedals, and in one case the floor mat had been securely fastened by a dealer.