Late last month, Japan’s MLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) announced that starting July 2022, all new cars sold must be fitted with an Event Data Recorder, or EDR in short. It is the automotive equivalent to an aircraft's black box. 

This rule applies to passenger cars with a seating capacity of less than 10 and commercial vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of less than 3.5 tonnes.

What’s an EDR?

Similar to an airplane's blackbox but not as sophisticated, the EDR is designed to identify and start recording when a trigger event occurs, typically during an airbag deployment, or a sudden change in vehicle velocity. 

Normally, the EDR records vehicle data related to driving and the vehicle’s safety systems for a short period of time, around 30 seconds or less.

Data that’s recorded include vehicle speed, driver input (throttle and brake application), as well as whether did the stability control kicked in.

That said, data gathered by the EDR does not include personal data such as name, gender, age, and crash location. Neither does the EDR record data under normal driving conditions.

Some manufacturers like Tesla make it easy to retrieve information from the EDR, providing owners with a simple website that lists out the cables and software needed. 

Interestingly, a quick glance in the Honda City RS' owner manual revealed that the car is fitted with several on-board EDRs, including one that's tied to the car's Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS).

If CMBS is activated, the EDR records images of objects in front of the vehicle, operational status of each function of CMBS, accelerator and brake pedal operation, vehicle speed, and information like distance and relative speed of the target identified by CMBS. However, the City RS' EDR does not record images or audio from the cabin of the car.

Why is an EDR needed?

EDRs are necessary for car manufacturers to determine if a car’s safety systems function as intended, especially after an accident in which the airbags deployed. 

Data recorded by the EDR could be used for crash investigation purposes, as well as used by car companies in a lawsuit.

In some countries, data gathered from the EDR can be used as evidence during an insurance claim, providing insurance companies an insight on whether the driver was at fault or not. 

Which cars sold in Malaysia has an EDR?

In many new cars sold after 2010, the EDR is part of the airbag's Electronic Control Unit. As such, in theory at least, almost every new car that comes with an airbag is fitted with the EDR. 

Some car manufacturers, like Perodua, actually mention that their models (except the Alza) are fitted with an EDR. Just go through the owner’s manual, it’s mentioned there.