What actually happens in the few seconds right before and right after a car crash is much harder to reconstruct than you might think.
Drivers’ memories are often subject to physical and emotional trauma. Eyewitnesses are less than 100%. Interpretations of physical evidence can be limited by our own imaginations.
Information about what happens in those few seconds is critical to determining how and why a crash happened. It can tell you
a vehicle’s acceleration speed, when the brakes were applied and with what force, if a driver hit the gas instead of the brakes and how quickly a vehicle decelerated after impact.
In short, it could determine who was at fault in a collision and who wasn’t.
A recent story in The New York Times describes how Tesla has taken next-level efforts to collect this crash information. Cameras and other sensors Tesla installs on its vehicles capture millisecond-by-millisecond accounts of accidents, enabling vehicles to capture accident details in ways humans cannot.
However, this does not mean that they freely share the information with the public.
Experts say this data could change the way regulators, police departments, insurance companies and other organizations investigate driving accidents, which would make investigations more accurate and less costly. It could also help those who design roadways and regulate traffic improve safety for all drivers and passengers.
Some carmakers don’t want to make this information readily available particularly as they move toward self-driving vehicles, in part because the data could reveal a flaw in the self-driving software.
But the greater good, the safety of all drivers and passengers, demands that we compel the developers of new technology to make it universally available. We can’t all afford to drive a Tesla but Tesla can certainly afford to share the information its superior technology provides.