Black boxes will ultimately save lives

By: Jack Nerad for Driving Today

Date: Friday, 04. August 2006

IBM Corporation, Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) and the Safety Intelligence Systems Corporation (SIS) have formed a strategic relationship to facilitate the delivery of automobile crash information to a global crash database. They believe the capture of crash data will benefit the public, researchers, and industry by filling a knowledge void unaddressed up until now by traditional crash investigation techniques. The database will be managed by Global Safety Data, jointly owned by ISO and SIS.

The GSD Vault's auto-crash database will be launched by the end of 2002 in North America and will be expanded internationally. It will be a unique repository for the most accurate data available on auto crashes, resulting from the growing amount of sensors and technologies designed into modern vehicles. In the future, using so-called "black box" technology similar to that used in the airline industry, such information can be automatically and instantly transmitted from cars involved in crashes. Safety researchers, engineers, the insurance industry, automobile manufacturers, and government agencies will then use the data for the ultimate benefit of consumers.

Safety researchers, engineers, and automakers will gain precise information about vehicle performance during a crash, which they can then apply to the engineering of safer cars. Insurance companies can use the data to handle claims more efficiently, saving consumers money while also identifying important automobile performance trends. The data is projected to drive change that will result in lives spared, injuries prevented, and billions of dollars saved. Public agencies, investigators, and policy-makers will also benefit from having access to timely and accurate crash data.

To create the most efficient architecture for the telematic delivery of data to the crash-information database, the three organizations are consulting with automotive research and engineering experts, insurance professionals, legislators, and policy-makers. How the privacy of individual citizens will be maintained, however, was unclear from the information released on the new project.

"IBM is honored to play a key role in the creation, implementation and delivery of this critically important data repository to researchers, automobile manufacturers and insurers, who have long sought to improve driving safety through access to higher-quality information," said Raj Desai, director, IBM Global Telematics Solutions. "This important solution proves once again that the value of telematics reaches far beyond consumer applications alone. Rather, it underscores the power of telematics to create value in new ways that deliver positive, immediate impact to industry and the public alike. With solutions like this data repository, everyone wins."

"Presently, motor vehicle crashes are the leading killer of Americans under the age of 34. We know that the world's finest car manufacturers and insurers are committed to increasing their understanding of what happens during crashes so they can better prevent crash deaths and injuries," said Dr. Ricardo Martinez, president and CEO of SIS, and also an emergency physician and former head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). "The crash-information Data Vault will provide new knowledge and insights to improve decision making regarding vehicle design, regulatory policy and vehicle problem detection."

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