Black boxes for cars under study in Australia

The federal government has confirmed the mandatory fitment of electronic data recorders (EDRs) in all new cars is under study in Australia, pending its introduction later this year in Europe.

EDRs are the automotive equivalent of aeronautical ‘black boxes’ and can record numerous vehicles parameters including speed, location, throttle position, braking, driver aid status and more in the event of a crash or incident, specifically recording the five seconds prior to an impact and a third of a second afterwards.

The purpose of EDRs, which have long been available in Europe as an aftermarket accessory to lower insurance premiums, is to help determine why a collision occurred and – potentially – serve as evidence when it comes to apportioning blame, depending on the severity and nature of the incident.

Black boxes provide valuable data for police and insurance companies to access during their respective investigations. But apart from collecting and storing vehicle information before, during and after a collision, they can also be used to automatically speed-limit a vehicle in any given speed zone or even disable a stolen vehicle.

Different to the way in which manufacturers already track some driver behaviour and the attention monitoring systems that are now part of ANCAP’s vehicle safety assessment protocol, EDRs can obviously also track a vehicle in real-time – as they already do in many fleet vehicles and just like your Uber, taxi or smartphone already does too.

But the mandatory fitment of black boxes in private vehicles has raised ‘big-brother’ privacy concerns and all new vehicles sold in Europe as of July will be required by law to be fitted with an EDR as standard, according to the United Nations World Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations – to which Australia is a signatory.

But that doesn’t mean local regulators must abide by the UN vehicle standards; the final say on new-vehicle regulations in our market rests with the Australian government – more specifically the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.

In a statement issued to carsales this week, the Department said:

“Road safety is a top priority of the Australian Government. That is why we have legislated road vehicle standards, also known as the Australian Design Rules or ADRs, in place to ensure all new and used road vehicles being provided to the Australian market for the first time meet critical national standards for safety, security and emissions.

“It is Australian Government policy to harmonise ADRs with the international standards set by the United Nations to ensure vehicles with the latest safety technologies can be supplied in Australia at the lowest price.

“Work has already begun examining how UN Regulation 160, which sets out the international requirements for EDRs in cars, can be implemented in Australia.

“A range of matters will need to be considered including data access and management, as well as the privacy implications of EDRs within the context of Australia’s privacy laws.

“Any decision to regulate EDRs in Australia would follow the Australian Government’s standard policy on developing regulation, which includes considering different policy options, how those options impact the public and businesses including costs and benefits, and the results of public consultation.”

In short, the government says it will continue studying the impact of mandating EDRs in Australia, where car-makers would be given several years’ notice before any new standards take effect, just as it did before mandating autonomous emergency braking (AEB), electronic lane keeping systems and, soon, reversing cameras in all new vehicles.

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