Accident Research and Biomechanics effectively and accurately identifies, accesses and analyzes “Black Box” data from heavy vehicles. “Black box” is a generic term used outside the motor vehicle industry to encompass any device on a vehicle which may store information pertaining to vehicle dynamics. Most of the original “black box” devices were never initially intended to be used at all for determining the various vehicle dynamic factors surrounding an accident, but we are able to pull the data to determine a range of variables during the event. A variety of different devices can be found in heavy vehicles, some are not obvious and must be located by one of our specialists.

There are two categories of “black box” devices – OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and Aftermarket (added by the fleet operators or driver). The most common OEM device found on heavy vehicles is the ECM (Electronic Control Module) or ECU (Electronic Control Unit) and they are installed on the engine by the manufacturer.

The ECM is not advertised as any type of “black box” for accident reconstruction which means our specialists use their expertise to analyze all the available vehicle dynamic data to accurately reconstruct the event in question. We access ECMs from a variety of engine locations, cab locations, as well as removing the ECM in severely damaged trucks. The ECM does not explicitly provide proof that stored data is actually from an incident, but it performs calculations based on specific manual inputs to determine speed such as the tire circumference and differential ratio, while also storing “hard brake” and “last stop record” events.

Aftermarket devices are added after purchase of a heavy vehicle and are usually intended to track heavy truck movements. Some devices are intended to record accidents and include video along with vehicle dynamics information. The devices can be found onboard often within the cab, with the data being sent via satellite uplink. They provide the location for each data point and the location for the event. The specialists at Accident Research analyze the vehicle data that has been recorded and stored along with any available video. Our team will utilize data from any other devices the driver may have used such as GPS units or drive cam data, which not only provides images but can also provide speeds for other vehicles in the video. In severe accidents, these devices can easily become detached from the vehicle and left at the accident scene where our specialists can work to recover them.

Most heavy vehicles today have anti-lock brake systems, and therefore will not leave pre-impact tire marks on the roadway indicating braking which is critical information for reconstructing an incident. The “hard braking” data analysis done by our specialists though “black box” data retrieval enables our team to develop a more clear picture of what unfolded before and during the incident.