mdrag
10-09-2003, 17:56
Csaba Csere, Car & Driver, Nov 2003, page 13
Short version: August 17 last year, a 47 year old man crashes into and kills a 16 year old girl and her 17 year old friend as they back out of her driveway. The crash occured in a 30 MPH zone, and the driver claimed he was going about 50 MPH. This occured in a south Florida suburb.
However, information obtained from the airbag module (ABM) computer in the man's 2002 Grand Am recorded 114 MPH five seconds before the crash, and 104 MPH one second before the crash. The police obtained a search warrant before downloading the data from his vehicle.
The man was charged with manslaughter and vehicular homicide. He was convicted and sentenced to 30 years.
The article goes on to state that every airbag equipped GM (and many Fords) built since 1998 have the ability to record your driving behavior prior to a crash. Parameters such as vehicle speed, deceleration, seat beat use, engine RPM, throttle position, and whether the driver is applying the brakes - all recorded every second. The ABM will retain the last five seconds of data in the event of a crash that results in the deployment of the airbag.
Short version: August 17 last year, a 47 year old man crashes into and kills a 16 year old girl and her 17 year old friend as they back out of her driveway. The crash occured in a 30 MPH zone, and the driver claimed he was going about 50 MPH. This occured in a south Florida suburb.
However, information obtained from the airbag module (ABM) computer in the man's 2002 Grand Am recorded 114 MPH five seconds before the crash, and 104 MPH one second before the crash. The police obtained a search warrant before downloading the data from his vehicle.
The man was charged with manslaughter and vehicular homicide. He was convicted and sentenced to 30 years.
The article goes on to state that every airbag equipped GM (and many Fords) built since 1998 have the ability to record your driving behavior prior to a crash. Parameters such as vehicle speed, deceleration, seat beat use, engine RPM, throttle position, and whether the driver is applying the brakes - all recorded every second. The ABM will retain the last five seconds of data in the event of a crash that results in the deployment of the airbag.