|
WORLD'S
FIRST MOTOR VEHICLE 'BLACK BOX' STANDARD CREATED AT IEEE
Standardized
Event Data Recorders for Crashes Promise to Improve Highway
Safety
Tom
Kowalick, Chair of the IEEE 1616 Working Group
+ 1 910 692 5209, mvedr@ieee.org
or
Karen McCabe, IEEE Senior Marketing Manager
+1 732 562 3824, k.mccabe@ieee.org
For Release:
Immediate
PISCATAWAY,
N.J., USA, 23 Sept. 2004 Driven by a lack of the uniform scientific
crash data needed to make vehicle and highway transportation safer
and reduce fatalities, the IEEE has created IEEE 1616™, the
first universal standard for motor vehicle event data recorders
(MVEDR) much like those that monitor crashes on aircraft and trains.
National Safety Council statistics show that motor vehicle accidents
are the leading cause of death in those between one and 33 years
in the U.S. They are the nation's largest public health problem,
causing a death every 12 minutes and a disabling injury every
14 seconds. Worldwide, someone dies in a motor vehicle crash each
minute. Road crash fatalities have claimed about 30 million lives
globally since 1896.
The new standard, IEEE 1616 "Motor Vehicle Event Data Recorders,"
specifies minimal performance characteristics for onboard tamper-
and crash-proof memory devices for all types and classes of highway
and roadway vehicles. This international protocol will help manufacturers
develop what is commonly called "black boxes" for autos,
trucks, buses, ambulances, fire trucks and other vehicles. It
includes a data dictionary of 86 data elements and covers device
survivability.
"The more accurate the data we gather on highway crashes,
the better chance we have to reduce their devastating effects,"
says Jim Hall, co-chair of the IEEE P1616 Working Group and former
head of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
"That's why it's so important to have recorders that objectively
track what goes on in vehicles before and during a crash as a
complement to the subjective input we get from victims, eye witnesses
and police reports. The NTSB considers this so important that
it places 'automatic crash sensing and recording devices' high
on its list of 'Most Wanted' transportation safety improvements."
IEEE 1616 builds on more than a decade of MVEDR research and development.
Major studies in this field include those by the Department of
Transportation (USDOT), the National Highway Transportation Safety
Administration (NHTSA), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
(FMCA), the Federal Highway Administration, the Transportation
Research Board (TRB), the National Academy of Sciences (NAS),
and many of the world's automotive, truck and bus manufacturers.
"This body of research has taught us to appreciate the significance
of MVEDRs," says Tom Kowalick, co-chair of the IEEE P1616
Working Group and president of Click, Inc. in Southern Pines,
N.C. "In providing essential crash information, these devices
can help accelerate the deployment of emerging safety technologies,
such as collision-avoidance systems, driver-assisted technologies,
onboard vehicle diagnostic systems and advanced medical response
capabilities."
Highway vehicles are the only major mode of transportation in
the U.S., which includes air, rail, marine and pipeline transport,
without an adequate event data recorder standard. IEEE 1616 rectifies
this.
"The working group that formed the standard met 13 times
in the past two years, drawing experts from industry and government
from across the U.S.," says Kowalick. "Given the dramatic
growth of electronic components in motor vehicles, we integrated
advanced communication and information technology in the standard.
The technical nature of this material made the IEEE a natural
choice for taking the lead in forming the standard."
IEEE 1616 has many potential benefits in many sectors, including:
- Automotive
industry: Provide design data based on a large number of crashes
of differing severities. Also, provide early evaluation of system
performance and vehicle design and allow for the global harmonization
of safety standards.
- Insurance
industry: Help identify fraudulent claims, which exceed $20
billion annually. Also, improve risk management, expedite claims,
decrease administrative costs and give insurers needed data
to subrogate claims and recover expenses.
- Government:
Help promulgate and evaluate standards, identify problem injuries
and mechanisms, stipulate injury criteria and investigate defects.
Give state and local officials crash information on problem
intersections and road lengths.
- Research:
Help those in human-factors research better understand such
areas as the man-machine interface, crash and injury causation,
and the effects of aging, medical conditions and fatigue.
- Medical
providers: Help with the on-scene triage of crash victims, improve
diagnostic and therapeutic decisions, allow automatic notification
of emergency providers, and aid in the organization of trauma
and EMS resources.
- The public:
Help create better policies, vehicle design, emergency response
and roadway design. Also act to improve driving habits, lower
insurance costs, decrease fraud and reduce the number of crashes.
The IEEE 1616
Working Group is developing another MVEDR standard to ensure that
brake and transmission data is recorded uniformly in motor vehicle
event data recorders. This standard, IEEE P1616a, "Standard
for Motor Vehicle Event Data Recorders (MVEDRs) - Amendment 1:
Brake and Electronic Control Unit (ECU) Electronic Fault Code
Data Elements," will require units to store a history of
time-stamped fault codes synchronized with other on-board MVEDR
devices.
IEEE P1616 and IEEE P1616a are sponsored by the IEEE Vehicular
Technology Society. Information on this Working Group and its
activities is available online at: http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/1616/home.htm.
About the
IEEE Standards Association
The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA), a global standards-setting
body, develops consensus standards through an open process that
brings diverse parts of an industry together. It has a portfolio
of more than 870 completed standards and more than 400 in development.
IEEE-SA promotes the engineering process by creating, developing,
integrating, sharing and applying knowledge about electro- and
information technologies and sciences for the benefit of humanity
and the profession. For further information on IEEE-SA visit:
http://standards.ieee.org/.
About the
IEEE
The IEEE has more than 380,000 members in approximately 150 countries.
Through its members, the organization is a leading authority on
areas ranging from aerospace, computers and telecommunications
to biomedicine, electric power and consumer electronics. The IEEE
produces nearly 30 percent of the world's literature in the electrical
and electronics engineering, computing and control technology
fields. This nonprofit organization also sponsors or cosponsors
more than 300 technical conferences each year. Additional information
about the IEEE can be found at http://www.ieee.org/.
IEEE 1616
ia trademark of the IEEE. All other names or product names are
the trademarks, service marks or registered trademarks of their
respective holders.
###
|
|
