NHTSA to Call for Mandatory ‘Black Boxes'

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)is expected to call for mandatory installation of "black boxes" in automobiles inJune, and engineering groups are weighing in on which data the boxes shouldcollect and who should access it.

The blackboxes, also known as event data recorders (EDRs), are fast becoming a center ofcontroversy because officials from the Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) want to ensure that the data from the devices is secure.

"When thevehicle crashes, we want to make sure that the first person who gets access tothe data is the owner," says Tom Kowalick, chairman of IEEE Global Standardsfor Motor Vehicle EDRs, as well as an author of seven books on EDR technology."Right now, no data is secure. There are 20,000 tow-aways in America every day,and none of them has secure data."

IEEEengineers see this as the right time to bring up the issue, because NHTSArecently introduced a notice of proposed rulemaking that would call formandatory EDRs. The EDR mandate isexpected to go to the Office of the Secretary of Transportation on June 15.

IEEE has petitionedNHTSA to incorporate a set of standards known as IEEE 1616 and IEEE 1616a into the EDRdescription. The IEEE standards call for EDRs to use 86 data elements, up from15 on a voluntary standard that NHTSA created in 2006.

Of primaryconcern is the issue of data security. Right now, data can be easily collectedby anyone using a data retrieval system that links up to a vehicle's onboarddiagnostics (OBD-II) connector. Devices such as Bosch Diagnostics' well-known CrashData Retrieval (CDR) systems "image" the data in the black box and then makethat data image downloadable to professionals with the right software tools. Asa result, automobile manufacturers, insurance investigators, accidentreconstruction experts and law enforcement agencies often have access to avehicle's data before the owner does. Moreover, owners rarely have any ideawhat's stored in the device, and don't understand how the readout tools work.

"Increasingly,readout tools are readily available through third parties," says Sean Kane,president of Safety Research andStrategies Inc., a private research firm that serves as an advocate onmotor vehicle and safety matters. "Anybody with any tech savvy can obtain thedownload tools for any car. That's really troubling."

Consumeradvocates believe that manufacturers and insurance investigators have alteredEDR data in some cases, and will do it again in the future if given the chance."You wouldn't believe how people can change data," Kowalick says. "They cantamper with it so it shows you were doing 112 mph in a 25-mph zone. All we wantis that at the time of the crash, the data is sealed."

Securing the Data

Many automakers have been incorporating the so-called black boxes in theirvehicles for more than a decade. The technology, which became quietly availablein the early 1990s as a means of monitoring airbags, enables automakers todetermine such parameters as vehicle speed, engine speed, throttle position,force of impact, steering wheel angle, airbag deployment, seat belt usage and brakingstatus at the time of an impact. Government agencies see the scientific data asa means of studying accidents, especially in cases such as Toyota's highly publicizedunintended acceleration.

Today, 91.6 percent of vehiclessold in the U.S. are believed to incorporate EDRs, according to a baselinefigure published by NHTSA. Most automakers incorporate the EDR in the airbag controlmodule, but a few integrate it in with the powertrain controller. Most EDRs canbe accessed through the onboard diagnostics connector (OBD-II), usually locatedwithin about 3 ft of the steering wheel.

Experts believe, however, that theOBD-II connector can be accessed too easily by individuals other than the car'sowner. Moreover, the proprietary nature of the devices often requires that databe accessed by the vehicle's manufacturer.

"Right now, if you want to get areading, there's a chance you'll have to turn everything over to themanufacturer," Kane says. "And we've found that there are sometimesinconsistencies in the EDR data. We've seen it time and time again."

Kowalick wants to solve the problemby incorporating a mechanical lockout device. He is the founder of a companythat makes Crash-Guard, a mechanical lock-and-keyproduct that sits on the OBD-II connector and allows the owner to determine whosees the data and when they see it.

"The mechanical lockout is ano-brainer," Kowalick says. "Once all these light vehicles have event datarecorders, there will inevitably be attempts by people to tamper with thedata."

Some experts, however, say that thelock on the OBD-II connector will only stop the first tier of data retrievalattempts. Determined crash investigators, they say, have other ways ofobtaining the data they seek, without using the OBD-II connector. BoschDiagnostics, for example, offers a data retrieval product for situations inwhich the OBD-II connector is damaged or can't be accessed. "We also makecables and connectors to get data directly from the module itself," says DanWalker, crash data retrieval business manager for Bosch Diagnostics. "Aninvestigator can get the data directly from the connector on the module, and weknow quite a few investigators who do that."

Still, IEEE's goal is to get theNHTSA mandate to employ standards that would make the data that comes from theEDR as scientific and objective as possible.

"We want NHTSA to include the 86data elements and we want them to include the mechanical lockout," Kowalicksays. "It's all about securing the data."