You’ll typically see lots of commercial trucks transporting goods across Oklahoma. Unfortunately, this can lead to residents of the Sooner State getting into an accident with a commercial truck. If this happens, a truck’s black box could become incredibly useful.
What is a truck’s black box?
Depending on the situation, the official name for a black box is either an event data recorder (EDR) or electronic control module (ECM). Regardless of which type of device is in a commercial truck, an EDR and ECM perform the same main function. This function is reporting details about a truck involved in an accident or near accident.
What data do EDRs and ECMs provide?
While these devices might look simple, black boxes provide a lot of information when truck accidents happen.
The information in a black box can include:
- The dynamics of a commercial truck literal moments before impact
- Vehicle crash signatures
- Information about restraint deployments (if any occurred)
- Activation of any collision notification systems
- A driver’s exact inputs before and during impact
The effectiveness of black boxes in truck litigation cases
As you can imagine, the wide range of detailed information inside of an EDR or ECM can help with proving fault in trucking litigation matters. For instance, these devices can report how fast a truck driver was traveling and if this person wore a safety belt. If a truck driver tries to blame another party for an accident this person caused, black boxes can help debunk a trucker’s claims.
It’s important to act fast regarding requests for electronic data found in a truck’s black box. That’s because the information inside these boxes can overwrite itself if someone moves a truck away from the original crash site.
