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Event Data Recorder Use in Traffic Crash Reconstruction

event-data-recorder_edr-03This comprehensive course will teach you how to operate the Bosch© Crash Data Retrieval (CDR) system hardware and software to image crash data from supported car and light truck event data recorders (EDR’s) as well as analyze the downloaded data and apply it to your reconstructions.event-data-recorder_edr-03

We begin with a history of EDR’s, what vehicles have EDR information you can retrieve, and what type of information you can expect by model and model year. From there, we will take you step-by-step through the process of operating the Bosch© CDR hardware and software. You will practice locating connection points, properly connecting the unit to the vehicles, supplying power to both the EDR and the CDR tool, initiating the necessary commands, and successfully storing files from modules in the classroom, from operational vehicles, and from crashed vehicles that have partially destroyed electrical systems. The course is designed around numerous individual and group exercises that will give you hands-on application and practice of the procedures in a variety of situations.

In addition, we will teach you how to reconcile EDR data with roadway evidence calculations to yield a complete reconstruction considering all available evidence. Simple checklists and guides will be provided to improve your consistency and accuracy, and templates will take some of the work out of more complex analysis. You will be given several EDR reports from supported manufacturers from real world crashes and will work in teams to analyze the EDR data and reconcile it to the scene evidence you are given. Analysis will also cover identifying staged collisions in insurance fraud cases.

During the course, we will teach you how to:

  • Select the proper imaging method based upon the situation
  • Analyze any set of EDR data you encounter, regardless of manufacturer
  • Recognize the six vehicle operational conditions where EDR speed data has been improperly used
  • Determine the effect that equipment modifications have on EDR speed data
  • Use pre-crash data to identify when a vehicle lost control in order to select the peak speed before the vehicle lost control
  • Calculate the appropriate ranges for speed at impact for different EDR’s
  • Use accelerator pedal release and brake application timing as the first reaction to an impending crash
  • Use time-distance analysis to estimate the point of first perception
  • Utilize EDR data to gain previously unavailable insight into driver behavior and approach speed rather than impact speed
  • Use EDR analysis methods that will work for any manufacturer’s data, even those not yet released to publicly available imaging tools
  • Use OEM specific Excel© templates to analyze EDR data
  • Support Frye and Daubert hearings with references to copyrighted research and on-copyrighted items
  • Use the same analysis techniques for heavy trucks although the data available differs from passenger car and light truck reports
  • Understand the new National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Part 563 rule (effective September 2012) that will standardize EDR data and make more data available in more severe crashes

Notes: Please bring your Bosch© EDR kit and battery booster boxes to class, if you have them, as well as tools to access EDR’s and protective clothing appropriate for working in wrecks with sharp edges and broken glass.

Audience: Law enforcement and private traffic crash investigators, insurance fraud special investigators and claims adjusters, engineers, attorneys, safety officers, military investigative personnel, collision animation and simulation graphics users.

Cost: $695.00 due upon enrollment

Participants may pay via credit card (MasterCard, VISA, Discover and American Express).
If you have questions please contact Jim Delap (jdelap@ucmo.edu) 660-543-4081 or 800-801-3588.

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