Does My Car Have a “Black Box” Like an Airplane?
After an airplane crashes, investigators obtain important information from the plane’s black box. The black box (or flight data recorder) records all of the pilot’s actions. The data obtained from these devices is often crucial in determining what went wrong.
There is similar technology in modern motor vehicles. Your car records data including speed, RPM and braking rates. This data is recorded by a device that operates the air bags in the vehicle. In many cases, it can be downloaded after a collision and used to determine how fast a vehicle was being driven or whether brakes were applied before a collision.
As with airplane crashes, this electronic data is often crucial in determining what went wrong and who is at fault for a motor vehicle collision It is important that this data be retrieved quickly following a collision because it will disappear with time.
This is one of the reasons why it is important to promptly retain an experienced personal injury lawyer if you or a family member is seriously injured in a motor vehicle collision. Experienced personal injury lawyers will hire engineers to obtain and preserve the electronic data contained within the vehicles involved in the collision. Very often, this data is the most important piece of evidence in a case.
About the Authors
Troy Lehman joined Oatley Vigmond in 2006 and became a partner in 2010. As a personal injury lawyer, his greatest satisfaction comes from helping people through to the other side of a difficult time in their lives. “We’re here to help and relieve stress,” Troy says. “When I walk into a first meeting with a client, people are often scared and anxious. And for me, the best thing that can happen at the end of the meeting is that they say, ‘I feel so much better.’