NHTSA’s NPR Would Mandate Event Data Recorders

Dec. 13, 2012
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) that would establish a new safety standard mandating the installation of event data recorders (EDRs) in most light vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 2014

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) that would establish a new safety standard mandating the installation of event data recorders (EDRs) in most light vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 2014.

The EDRs in those vehicles would be required by the new standard to meet the data elements, data capture and format, data retrieval, and data crash survivability requirements of the existing regulation. This proposal would not modify any of the requirements or specifications in the regulation for EDRs voluntarily installed between September 1, 2012 and September 1, 2014.

In August 2006, NHTSA established a regulation that sets forth requirements for data elements, data capture and format, data retrieval, and data crash survivability for event data recorders (EDRs) installed in light vehicles. The requirements apply to light vehicles that are manufactured on or after September 1, 2012, and are equipped with EDRs. However, the regulation does not mandate the installation of EDRs in those vehicles.