The owner's manual for my 2011 F150 states that the Event Data Recorder typically records for 30 seconds or less:
*How various systems in your vehicle were operating;
*Whether or not the driver and passenger seatbelts were buckled/fastened;
*How far(if at all) the driver was depressing the accelerator and/or the brake pedal;
*How fast the vehicle was traveling;
*Where the driver was positioning the steering wheel.

 

...just in the Washington Post newspaper yesterday, they STILL have NOT determined enough to place legal blame on what went wrong in that aircraft accident.....

 

last i heard was that the stall warning was going off, and he kept pulling the nose higher and higher. until it finally fully stalled. they finally tried getting the nose down but couldn't recover before it broke up from overstress. but what if the logging truck was made from the black box stuff too ?

 

Right on! I'm sick and tired of a bunch of ignorant politicians blabbering to me about safety and security...do your job according to the laws in the constitution...and stay the hell out of my life.

 

Miko; As a new user you may not realize that politics are not to be a part of any forum other than The Club.
If you wish to express your revulsion please put your money where your mouth is.
Yearly dues are $19.99 and you get to let us know what you think of the dysfunctional system we have of governing this great nation.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/payments.php

 

As systems become more complex, built in troubleshooting and event recording will be the norm as it can be useful in isolating (especially transient) malfunctions.

I don't object to EDRs, but would like it mandated that owners have free access to ALL computer information stored on vehicles they own. There is no reason with current technology that you shouldn't be able to connect to a USB or other standard port on a vehicle and read all information stored on its computer(s). Further, no "code readers" should be necessary as displaying any info processed by onboard monitoring and control systems would be trivial to implement. A CEL is a joke, for the same dash space could display fault information.

Not a political observation, but telemetry instead of crude recording of aircraft system operation is easily done too. Industry snivels about implementing it and safety is compromised thereby. We have the tech, but the (not political, but economic) reality is that it's not as usefully implemented as it could be on aircraft or automotive systems.

It is very easy to troubleshoot a personal computer because the same reasonably open standards and specs which helped the PC industry expand to serve everyone facilitate that. By comparison automotive computers are simple, but they are carefully vendor-locked to maximise revenue.

 

but if the dash fault indicator said what was wrong instead of saying service engine soon, dealerships and auto repair shops would loose money by not being able to charge a $150 diagnostic fee.
and they will not stand for loosing that kind of money.

 

Of course those "diagnostic fees" should be regulated too IMHO! Barring anything reasonable charges for such a simple process were I still running a shop any up-front fees leading to repairs would be absorbed via the final invoice.

A neighbor was regularly shelling out somewhere between $70-100 each time her CEL illuminated. When she discovered I have a scanner capable of diagnosing her issues (automotive wise anyway ) she was tickled---single mom and all.

I fully see and agree any time spent just diagnosing an issue should cost something, just not as much as so many are charging for a simple computer hook up and read out.

 

i charge $10 to read the codes. and if i do the repair it is deducted from the bill..

if i have to travel to the body shop it is $25. this covers the cost of fuel, my time, and the cost of the scanners.
they are not paid for yet, but close to it.

 

Those charges are more than reasonable!

 

i think so to, but some people still bitch.
those are the ones i tell then go to the dealer to get the codes read.

 

I think the black box is a good thing and here is why after an incident near me.


4 lane divided highway, limited access.

Commercial truck has to cross 2 lanes to head South, clear visibility, traffic moderate.

Trailer was struck in the rear killing 4 college girls returning home for the holidays. Driver of the SUV was in the left (Fast) lane, right lane was clear, could have moved to the right lane to avoid colliding with the Semi as he crossed.

Commercial driver was held pending investigation, probably will be charged with Vehicular Manslaughter ect.

State Patrol Investigator arrives, pulls DATA. Driver of the SUV was doing 115MPH at impact. Commercial driver released.

 

GM Canceled Ignition-Switch Fix in 2005 Due to Costs - Bloomberg

Data recorders were useful here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/29/bu...tion-flaw.html

BTW for those wanting their OBD II codes read and to scan their running engine, the cheap ten-dollar ELM327 Bluetooth units off Ebay will do the job using your Android phone, or your PC if it has Bluetooth (which can be added to older units with a YSB dongle). USB and wifi units are also available.

 

hmmm my comp doesn't have this YSB port you speak of :-)

 

mine don't even have bluetooth.