Event Data Recorder Pre-Crash Data Sources for General Motors Vehicles

ASME Paper No. IMECE2003-41812
ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress 2003; Washington, D.C.

Author: John Steiner

The Event Data Recorder (EDR) found in some 1994 model year and newer General Motors (GM) passenger vehicles has the ability to record up to five seconds of pre-crash data. Such as vehicle speed, engine speed, percent throttle application and brake application before a predetermined deceleration event as well as crash data such as delta-v’s. The pre-crash and crash data can be downloaded by properly equipped and trained personnel using the Vetronix Crash Data Retrieval (CDR) System. However, this data must not simply be taken at face value; the Accident Analyst must be aware of the nature of the differing types and sources of the data, and must ensure that the systems supplying the data was in a normal operating mode and not in a default mode or in a “limp home” mode due to pre existing problems. This paper discusses how different environments and scenarios that the vehicle can be operated in changes how the vehicle will respond to driver inputs thus effecting pre-crash data recorded by the Event Data Recorder.