Author Description

Millions of motorists' crash - few realize that most vehicles record crash data! This is the first and only book that explains what on-board "black box" technologies actually do during a crash. BLACK BOX: What's Under Your Hood? Describes in simple everyday language, the newest accessory on-board passenger motor vehicles - the Motor Vehicle Event Data Recorder (MVEDR). This automotive equivalent of an airplane's flight recorder or "black box" is intended to solve the mysteries of car crashes and improve the safety of our roads. How we came to have them on-board our vehicles and how it actually works may amaze you. There's no need to be an electronics engineer or automotive technician to understand current and future plans for black boxes. The reader is taken inside the automotive industry and the government highway safety establishment to foster an understanding of the politics and the positions on all sides of this safety debate. The author takes an unbiased approach, topically presenting each argument and uncovering the agendas and mandates of each of the stakeholders. Kowalick, an expert on automotive EDR technologies, discloses where to find data recorders in your vehicle. He explains how events are triggered and which data gets captured to provide a post-crash analysis. The book is useful to attorneys, public safety advocates, public policy administrators, engineers, automotive professionals, journalists, insurance executives, and consumers. The twelve chapters cover background and evolution of on-board vehicle devices, the USDOT/NHTSA Regulatory proposal, and responses from the world's leading Automakers, Alliances and Associations, Safety and Privacy Advocates, Insurance Industry, Global Standards Developers, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the public. The information needed to understand the technology and to answer motorists' questions and concerns about the widespread use of MVEDRs are provided, including: Detailed bibliography and glossary