EU: New draft regulation on event data recorders

 

EU Commission has announced a new public consultation on draft regulation on event data recorders.

Event data recorders (EDRs) enhance the accuracy and completeness of data for accident research and analysis. According to the General Safety Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2019/2144), EDRs are designed solely to record and store critical crash-related parameters and information immediately before, during, and after a collision. This aims to provide more precise, in-depth accident data, enabling Member States to conduct road safety analyses and evaluate the effectiveness of specific measures.

EDRs are already mandatory for new types of passenger cars and vans. The General Safety Regulation also requires the Commission to adopt EDR technical requirements and test procedures for new types of heavy-duty vehicles, which must be implemented by January 2026.

From January 7, 2026, new vehicle types in categories M2, M3, N2, and N3 must be equipped with EDRs, with all new vehicles following suit by January 7, 2029. Studies indicate that EDRs provide valuable accident data that can enhance vehicle safety by offering insights into vehicle status and system functioning before, during, and after collisions. This data helps to understand accident causes and circumstances better and improve safety systems, ultimately reducing accidents.

Following the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/545 on EDRs for light-duty vehicles (M1 and N1), this regulation extends the requirements to vehicle categories M2, N2, M3, and N3. The test procedures and technical requirements for EDR type-approval are governed by UN Regulation No 169, which should be included in the list of applicable requirements in Articles 4(5) of Regulation (EU) 2019/2144.

UN Regulation No 169 specifies the data elements EDRs must record, data formats, data capture, recording, on-board storage requirements, and data survivability. To ensure data protection, manufacturers must take measures against data manipulation, ensure data availability through standardized interfaces, and enable data anonymization. Additional requirements for data retrieval, privacy, and security are necessary to support these measures.

Until standardized communication protocols for accessing and retrieving EDR data are established through a Commission delegated act, manufacturers should provide relevant parties with information on how to access, retrieve, and interpret EDR data. Manufacturers must also ensure that EDR data remain anonymized and are not reported or retrieved with any information related to an individual.

The public consultation can be found HERE.

To find out more about EU vehicle regulations and EU vehicle type approval, please contact the Institute for Global Automotive Regulatory Research directly.