A Supreme Court ruling in Australia could open the way for the authorities to gain access to crucial data stored by a car's electronic systems that could reveal the speed of the car and the severity of braking immediately prior to an accident.
All modern cars - those that have multi-stage airbags and automatic braking systems - have onboard electronic control units (ECU). These ECUs control all of its safety systems, such as ABS and traction control.
Should the worst happen, the ECUs will apply more brake pressure or activate the traction and vehicle stability controls, and, in the event of an impact, will deploy the airbags.
To fulfil these lifesaving tasks, the vehicle's ECUs need to constantly monitor and store for a short time data such as the car's speed and the force being applied to the brakes. And it is this information that could prove to be useful to the authorities if they decide to take the same line as their colleagues in New South Wales, Australia.
The Australian police downloaded information from a car's ECU after it was involved in a fatal crash. Following an appeal by the driver to prevent the information being used against her, the NSW Supreme Court has ruled that the police can download the data for a second time. The information they collect from the ECU should reveal the speed, how hard the driver braked and what gear the car was in immediately prior to the fatal crash.
While drivers can do nothing about the data being collected about their driving habits by their own car, they now have the option of adding another spy-in-the-cab. This week Vehicle Camera Systems launched a new accident-recording camera which uses a small camera mounted on the inside of the windscreen as well as GPS technology to pinpoint the time, place and date of an incident.
The system records on a continuous 30-second loop and if it detects a set g-force, for example, in the event of a collision or an obvious loss of control situation, the device stores the latest video images.
Dean Taylor from Vehicle Camera Systems explains the attraction of the new system for motorists: "The device helps vehicle owners, insurance companies and the police see how an accident happened, helping pinpoint liability more easily. This will simplify insurance claims, help cut hit-and-run offences and cut knock-for-knock settlements." Following an accident, the recording is encrypted and digitally watermarked.
The camera can then be connected to a PC to transfer the footage via the internet to the TruScene database. The database decodes encrypted footage and stores it securely, until such time as the owner, an insurance company or police request to view the data as evidence of liability.
Taylor explains what prompted him to invest two years of his time developing the system: "The concept for a tamper-resistant vehicle camera evolved after my car was hit from behind. During the claim process, the third party mysteriously supplied a witness, stating I had reversed into them, and by lying they won the case." The new system, which is expected to cost under €1,000, will be launched here in October.