Old school motor vehicle collision reconstruction methods involved detailed documentation of various evidence at a site and on the damaged vehicles. While some of that process still continues, the modern reconstructionist now attaches a piece of computer hardware (Crash Data Retrieval Kit) and, with the properly functioning software, is able to download multitudes of detailed data such as the vehicle’s speed, collision severity and the status of various driver inputs for several seconds before a crash. So collision reconstruction seems to have advanced, or so it would seem.
Those who are reliant on this downloading process have, on occasion, complained about being unable to obtain data for various reasons. Many of these problems have to do with having the proper cables, back-powering of the system and because the downloading process varies depending of vehicle and manufacturer.
But lately the process has become more complicated as reconstructionists have complained that they cannot get the software to “wake up” for unexplained reasons. The problems occur often when there is an update to the software. It is inconvenient because a reconstructionist may only have one chance to conduct the download as the vehicle is often available for only a single occasion. Even police cannot keep possession of a vehicle forever and must release it to the owner even if a solution is not found in the downloading process. This leads to considerable stress as very important data becomes unavailable.
Crash Data Retrieval is not practically available to the average vehicle owner. While governments have enacted legislation requiring that the data be available, that just does not happen. The costs of hardware and software and additional costs to hire someone to do the work makes it essentially impossible for the average owner to get the data unless they have the resources to spend thousands of dollars. What remains is that the big people: the insurers, the police and various research groups have access and no one else.
Yet when the hardware/software functions unreliably, on too many occasions, even those big people are not happy.
You must be logged in to post a comment.