The accident data memory is a device that records and securely stores data before, during and after an accident. This event-related data storage does not save the recorded data permanently, but is triggered on the basis of various factors indicating an accident. Analyzing this data should make it easier to reconstruct accidents in the future.
Many special vehicles, including police, fire or rescue vehicles, have been on the road for many years with an accident data memory in order to have concrete data in hand in the event of disputes about accidents during blue light driving. The installation of an accident data memory is one of the tasks involved in system integration and is generally quite simple.
Accident data recorders work with their own sensors and can also access data from the vehicle. The accident data recorder should therefore not be confused with an event data recorder, which is similar to a black box in its range of functions. This only records certain vehicle-specific signals. Event data recorders have been mandatory in new vehicle types since July 2022. In new vehicles in general, installation is to become mandatory in 2024. This regulation generated a media response as "mandatory accident data storage" or "mandatory black box", but the first term in particular is not correct in terms of the definition of the term.
