Development of requirements and functional specifications for crash event data recorders : final report

(Reproduction of completed page authorized) ii FOREWORD This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. The contents of this report reflect the views of the contractor, who is responsible for the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the United States Department of Transportation. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers' names appear herein only because they are considered essential to the object of this document. The authors are grateful for the support and contributions of many USDOT staff members who provided valuable input and direction to the project including: This report presents the results of a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Intelligent Transportation Systems/Joint Program Office (ITS/JPO) project, in collaboration with the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA). In this project, a comprehensive requirements analysis defined specific crash event data recorder (EDR) requirements and functional specifications to facilitate the reconstruction of crashes involving large trucks. These requirements and specifications were developed through a review of previous and ongoing EDR work and an analysis of CMV crash data. Using this information, specific data elements were ranked in the following three tiers to define crash characteristics in crashes involving commercial motor vehicles (CMVs): Tier 1 – The minimum required data elements for a crash EDR on CMVs. Tier 2 – Additional data elements to the data elements in tier 1 that would permit further analysis of crashes involving CMVs. Tier 3 – A complete set of data crash elements to thoroughly analyze crashes involving CMVs, including the data elements listed in tiers 1 and 2 above. After the tiers of data elements were established, a cost effectiveness analysis was conducted to estimate the costs of the data elements in each of the three tiers and to determine whether one or more data elements would significantly increase the cost of an EDR.