Accuracy of 2016-2022 EDRs in IIHS Crash Tests

Event data recorders (EDRs) were harvested and imaged after Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) 56 km/hr frontal and 64.4 km/hr frontal offset crashes of 15 different brands of 2016-2022 vehicles. The speed and delta-V in the EDR were compared to reference instrumentation. Speed data was accurate within the generally accepted range of +/-4%. The 40% overlap tests had generally similar vehicle kinematics, and their delta-Vx data was accurate. However, there was a much greater variance in the small (25%) overlap tests. Some outliers in the small overlap delta-Vx tests required further analysis using overhead video analysis. The video analysis more closely matched the EDR recorded values.

These offset tests create significant post-crash rotation, and both EDR and IIHS instrumentation were affected by their location away from the center of gravity. The Y-axis was affected much more than the X-axis. The data scatter in Y-axis was significant, particularly in the IIHS reference instrumentation. Quantitative corrections were calculated and reduced the data set differences, but did not bring every crash test into agreement.