When an aircraft crashes, one the first actions is searching for the black box, which is typically bright orange, in order to understand what went wrong. Switzerland’s road authority would like to see similar technology added to all new cars from 7 July 2024, according to RTS.
These black boxes would record information such as acceleration, speed, braking and steering leading up to an accident. Information would be recorded for a short period before and after the accident and would be activated by impact.
The technology is aimed primarily at reducing accidents by using the data collected to improve road design, according to FEDRO. Thanks to this technology we could more easily reconstruct and analyse the unfolding of an accident and establish whether it was caused by human error or a technical issue, said a test engineer interviewed by RTS.
The move mirrors a similar EU plan. In 2019, The European Parliament approved regulations requiring new vehicles to be fitted with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). The regulation states that all motor vehicles should be required to be equipped with recorders capable of recording and storing data to conduct road safety analysis and assess the effectiveness of specific measures.
The EU rules are scheduled to come into force mid 2022. The Swiss ones would take effect on 1 July 2024.
Who would have access to the data in Switzerland has not been finalised. The police would be able to access it, however, there have been discussions around also giving insurance companies access.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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Lynx says
They should all have cameras too, recording front, back and side. I have had so many near misses with cyclists, e-scooters, people not using indicators correctly (if at all) on roundabouts, and other rule breakers, etc, etc that I’d love to record them. But, such videos are not accepted by police in prosecutions.