The black box is no longer just for airplanes.
Since July 6, all new vehicle models built are equipped with an EDC system (for "Even data recorders", event data recorder in French), more commonly known as a black box.
But beware, there is no image or sound here.
Placed under the bonnet of a car, or towards the airbags, it only records driving-related data: speed, acceleration and braking phases and the use or not of signaling equipment.
On the vehicle side, the black box will also retain its inclination, the force of the collision during an accident, the wearing of the seat belt and the engine speed.
This will facilitate the rights of accident victims, in the event of investigations.
Which vehicles are affected?
The implementation of this system will be done in two stages: first, all new models launched for approval, passenger cars, utility vehicles or trucks, will be equipped with it.
Secondly, any new registration from July 6, 2024 must have a black box.
Concretely, if you buy a model which had its approval before July 2022, your vehicle will not have this system.
If you decide to buy this same model after July 6, 2024, it will have to have this little box under the hood, because the registration will have changed.
No used car will therefore be equipped with it and you will not be asked to place one in your current vehicles.
What data is collected?
The European Union has required for more than two years that our cars be equipped with a vehicle condition diagnosis and data recording system called OBFCM.
In theory, this information remains anonymous and is intended to avoid a second "dieselgate" - when the manufacturer Volkswagen in 2015 installed fraudulent software in cars.
As for the black box, rest assured, it is not a conversation recorder like on planes.
The data stored will not identify the vehicle and its owner.
They will only be collected 30 seconds before and 10 seconds after the accident.
As long as there is no impact between two vehicles, the memory is automatically erased every two minutes.
Will we be under surveillance?
For the moment, if there is a dispute in a serious accident, the judicial police officers and the research institutes have the right to claim the data.
Insurers will not be able to use the information provided by the EDC registration system.
Fabrice Davanlay, in charge of public relations for the manufacturer Ford, is not a fan of the term “black box”.
“This implies that we add an additional spy object.
In fact, it will only affect the modules of the car.
There are no objects per se.
»
In reality, everything depends on the manufacturer: some will use an already existing system, others will rather choose to install a physical box.
But the latter will not be the only one to appear in our private means of transport: drowsiness alert system, interface for breathalyzer, tire monitoring system or even reverse gear detection... Many options are also part of the start-up of new homologated vehicles.
Europe is slightly behind compared to the other neighbors of the globe, concerning this black box.
In the United States, it has been in place since 2015 and more than 90% of vehicles are equipped with it.
There, its prolonged use reduced accidents by at least 20%.