Accident! Can I get to the black box data?

[Tempus]

As far as I know all Toyota's have the 'Black Box' data recorder. I think all GM products have them now too

NHTSA and the NTSB want them to be required by 2009, but many manufacturers are already putting them in.

Generally it takes a subpeona to get the data. Law Enforcement will do it in criminal cases (Vehicular Homicide, etc), and Insurance Companies will do it when the cost of litigation is warranted compared to the cost of settling up and moving on.

I presume you could do it in a civil suit, but I doubt it would be cheap.

You can look around the web for all the privacy discussions on the recorders, so it's not a sure thing they're going to be mandated.

For example, would Auto Manufacturers be allowed to read the boxes during service and void warrantees?

However, last fall IEEE approved the first official MVDR (Motor Vehicle Data Recorder) Standard.

You can google that up too if you want, but it has 86 specified data elements and covers survivability requirements.

[TonyPSchaefer]

Christie, I'm sorry to hear about what I'm sure was previously your bundle of Christmas joy. Here is my couple'a cents worth.

First, what kind of car rear-ended your husband? Visibility is huge here. As pointed out by jgspears, if the guy saw your husband rear-end the truck, he should have seen the accident happen and stop in time. The Prius isn't that big a car. Just about any vehicle can see through or over it. Of course he's trying to get out of having to pay for the damage to two vehicles instead of just yours.

Second, once confronted merely with the idea that the brand new Prius has a black box containing evidence that your car's brakes were applied hard, came to a complete stop, jerked forward in a split-second and stopped abruptly, the guy will most likely recend his story and back down.

Thirdly, if it starts to look like the guy's not backing down, that his insurance company is taking his side, and that your insurance company is getting nowhere, tell your insurance company that he's attempting - and almost succeeding - insurance fraud. There is no two ways around it, if you lie intentionally about the details of an accident, you are committing insurance fraud and they take that stuff very seriously. If you have to escalate, make it very clear:
1) There IS a black box in the Prius.
2) It WILL prove that he pushed your car into the truck.
3) His insurance company WILL pay for the service of pulling the box and decyphering the codes.
4) He WILL be found guilty of insurance fraud.
5) He WILL be penalized for making a false claim.
6) He WILL be uninsurable after all this comes out.
7) You WILL have your Prius fixed by the highest priced repair shop in the area using ONLY Toyota parts.

Just my two cents, but please don't take it lightly. I was minding my business in the middle lane of a three lane highway when a semi changed lanes into me. His passenger lug nuts scraped that holy crap out of my driver door. Let me tell you, that gets your attention fast. He told his insurance company that we each went for the middle lane at the same time and therefore it was a shared-fault accident. A dozen cars saw the accident and no one stopped. His insurance rep told me over the phone that it is their job to side with their client no matter what. I tell you this because no matter how outlandish this guy's story sounds to anyone who was in the accident or saw the accident, assume that his insurance company is going to echo his story over and over again. The burden is on you to prove to them "beyond reasonable doubt" that you had nothing to do with the damage to the truck.

[DanMan32]

I'd like to understand how any black box information would clear him? What data would you expect to see that would show he stopped before impact? If the airbags deployed, then yes, you could see that wheel motion was zero several seconds before deployment, but otherwise, how?

And I still have not seen anything other than speculation that there is a black box. Only freezframe data, captured during the setting of a DTC is known to be captured. The service manual states this, so that is not speculation. And even that data is very limited, telling what was going on at the moment the DTC occured.

[Tempus]

The Black Box gives second by second speed, acceleration/deceleration, and Brake Status.

That's plenty to determine what happened in this case.

1) Car Slows under braking to normal stop.

2) Car accelerates forward rapidly with brakes applied, then comes to rapid stop.

Case Closed.

[Danny]

Same with South Carolina - if you rear end someone, you're 100% at fault no matter what the guy in front of you was doing. Except, of course, in the case of fraud (the 'ole "swoop and squat" as President Palmer puts it on those Allstate commercials).

[Tempus]

Here's doc on the fact that Toyotas have them.

I was wrong though, not ALL Toyotas do, but the Priuses (even the 04s) absolutely do.

http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=7386

"Toyota reports that all its '05 models except Scion xA and xB, Lexus IS300, Tacoma, Tundra, and GX470 have EDRs. These black boxes are mounted under the seat, behind the center console or in the instrument panel, varying from one vehicle to another."

[Blue-Adept]

A accident scene examiner can tell what happed by looking at the damage. The amount of damage to the front of Prius would show how much force was applied to the rear of the car. If the car has Zero speed and momentum the smart airbags will not deploy if pushed into the other vehicle as the passengers may be harmed more by the exploding air bag.

TODO!.
Get a good Lawyer. Have him contact the lier and tell him to be prepared to goto court. They will know what to do.

Fight any ticket issued.

I had a problem with a woman who pulled her emergency brake at 40 mph and slid into the right lane forcing me to rear end her. She blamed me until the lawyer contacted her. She sang like a jay bird.

Good Luck.

[DanMan32]

Damage can easily be misleading. Often I have been rearended and I get all the damage, like the last one that prompted me to get a Prius. though once I rearended someone else, thinking he was passing but he was actually stopping. I scratched his bumper, but I got some front end damage.

Neither of these was in the Prius though.
For the first one, I had a Saturn SL2, he had a 2004 Camry. The other one I hit a Mustang, I had a Nissan Sentra.

[DanMan32]

Article doesn't even mention Toyota. It correctly states most cars have SOME SORT of EDR. Prius has freezeframe set during DTCs. That could be said to be some sort of EDR.

[Tempus]

What article doesn't mention Toyota? The one I posted?

I suggest re-reading if you're referring to this article.

http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=7386

I quoted the relevant passage.