This vehicle is equipped with an event data recorder (EDR). The main purpose of an EDR is to record, in certain crash or near crash-like situations, such as an airbag deployment or hitting a road obstacle, data that will assist in understanding how a vehicle's systems performed. The EDR is designed to record data related to vehicle dynamics and safety systems for a short period of time, typically 30 seconds or less. The EDR in this vehicle is designed to record such data as:
- How various systems in your vehicle were operating;
- Whether or not the driver and passenger safety belts were buckled/fastened;
- How far (if at all) the driver was depressing the accelerator and/or brake pedal; and,
- How fast the vehicle was traveling.
These data can help provide a better understanding of the circumstances in which crashes and injuries occur.
EDR data is only recorded by the vehicle if a more serious collision situation occurs. No data is recorded by the EDR under normal driving conditions and the EDR never registers who is driving the vehicle or the location of a crash or a near crash-like situation. However, other parties, such as law enforcement, could combine the EDR data with the type of personally identifying data routinely acquired during a crash investigation. To read data recorded by an EDR, special equipment is required, and access to the vehicle or the EDR is needed.
Furthermore, your vehicle is equipped with a number of computers whose task is to continuously control and monitor the vehicle's operation. They can also register some of this information during normal driving conditions, most importantly if they detect a fault relating to the vehicle's operation and functionality or upon activation of the vehicle's active safety systems (e.g. City Safety and the auto-brake function). Some of the registered information is required by technicians when carrying out service and maintenance to enable them to diagnose and rectify any faults that have occurred in the vehicle and to enable Volvo to fulfill legal and other regulatory requirements. Information thus registered in the vehicle is registered in the vehicle's computers until the vehicle is serviced or repaired. In addition to the above, the registered information may - on an aggregated basis - be used for research and product development purposes in order to continuously improve the safety and quality of Volvo vehicles.
For additional information, please contact Volvo.