The Accuracy of Pre-Crash Speed Captured by Event Data Recorders

Author / Creator

Lawrence, Jonathan M

Conferences

SAE 2003 World Congress & Exhibition (2003-03-03 : Detroit, Michigan, United States)

Available as

Online

Summary

Most 1999 and newer General Motors (GM) vehicles have an event data recorder (EDR) that can record pre-crash speed incorporated into the airbag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM). The accuracy of ...

Most 1999 and newer General Motors (GM) vehicles have an event data recorder (EDR) that can record pre-crash speed incorporated into the airbag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM). The accuracy of the SDM-reported pre-crash speed over a wide range of speeds has not been previously tested and reported. In this study, the SDMs of three late-model GM passenger cars were artificially triggered while driving at a constant speed between 1 and 150 km/h. The SDM-reported pre-crash speeds were compared to speeds measured by a calibrated 5th-wheel of known accuracy. The results showed that the accuracy of the SDM-reported pre-crash speed varied with both speed and vehicle. The overall uncertainty associated with all three SDMs tested varied from a 1.5 km/h overestimation of vehicle speed at low speeds to a 3.7 km/h underestimation of vehicle speed at high speeds. Within the limits of this study, these results can be used to quantify the accuracy of SDM-reported pre-crash speed for use in engineering analyses of automobile crashes.

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