Data events recorders must be installed in U.S. vehicles starting in 2015

The U.S. Senate has approved legislation requiring event data recorders to be installed in new passenger motor vehicles sold in the United States beginning in 2015.

The bill, known as ‘MAP-21,’ has yet to be passed by the House of Representatives.

The bill passed by the Senate says any data in an event recorder is the property of the owner or lessee of the motor vehicle in which the data recorder is installed.

The bill further requires a report to be submitted to Congress two years after the implementation date, which would discuss the safety and privacy impact of the data recorders. Specifically, the report would include, among other things: the safety benefits gained from installation of event data recorders; the recommendations on what, if any, additional data the event data recorder should be modified to record; and the estimated cost to manufacturers to implement the new enhancements.