JoeMidnight

I'm sure that everyone has come across one person or another that has had an experience about how they seem to know how to write off a car by hitting it a certain way to ensure it can't be fixed... well if you read on page 12 of your owners manual..

You'll read this.

DATA RECORDING
Service Data Recording
Service data recorders in your vehicle are capable of collecting and storing diagnostic information about your vehicle. This potentially includes information about the performance or status of various systems and modules in the vehicle, such as engine, throttle, steering or brake systems. In order to properly diagnose and service your vehicle, Ford Motor Company, Ford of Canada, and service and repair facilities may access or share among them vehicle diagnostic information received through a direct connection to your vehicle when diagnosing or servicing your vehicle. Additionally, when your vehicle is in for service or repair, Ford Motor Company, Ford of Canada, and service and repair facilities may access or share among them data for vehicle improvement purposes. For U.S. only (if equipped), if you choose to use the SYNC® Vehicle Health Report, you consent that certain diagnostic information may also be accessed electronically by Ford Motor Company and Ford authorized service facilities, and that the diagnostic information may be used for any purpose. See the SYNC® chapter for more information.
Event Data Recording
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; this data 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 the brake pedal;
• How fast the vehicle was travelling;
• Where the driver was positioning the steering wheel.
This data can help provide a better understanding of the circumstances in which crashes and injuries occur.
Note: EDR data is recorded by your vehicle only if a non-trivial crash situation occurs; no data is recorded by the EDR under
2014 05+ Mustang (197)
Owners Guide gf, 3rd Printing, January 2014 USA (fus)


there is SOOOO much to learn about the new mustang.

another interesting read was about being careful about the nozzles at gas pumps. there are some types that you shouldn't use to avoid getting the nozzle stuck in your capless tank, damaging the seal.

If anyone else has any interesting feedback to share, please do!

JoeMidnight

and the next page...

CubAndy

I don't get it...what are you trying to say?

JoeMidnight

what I'm trying to say is that your vehicle will log your movements (driving habits/conditions). If your car was part of car accident The car is equipped to log the driving conditions. as a crazy example. If you were in an accident that you had caused and tried to cover it up and came up with a fabricated story, trying to point the finger at the other party or trying not to take the blame or if the accident was contained only to you, police could look at the logs and determine that you were at fault and charges could apply based on any data that they may find.

This is the first time I've ever ready about technology like this. It's quite intuitive. I dont know if other car manufacturers have this sort of technology equipped in their cars, but I think all cars should have this feature.

I know that i'll feel safer on the roads with it. I've been in 3 car accidents, none of which i was "at fault" for. But it was tough trying to explain my side of the story on what had happened.

This technology is just another way to save yourself and prove that you weren't driving like a maniac if you were to get into an accident.

WhiteBird00

My 2000 Trans Am had it so this is nothing new nor limited to Ford. The majority of cars on the road have this capability including almost all domestic models. Mercedes Benz and Audi are two significant holdouts who don't install them.

And it has been used in court to convict drivers in fatal accidents. A driver in Florida was convicted of two counts of manslaughter and two counts of vehicular homicide for the death of two teenage girls in 2002 who were hit while backing out of their driveway. The Event Data Recorder (EDR) showed that the driver who hit them had been going a peak of 114mph on their 30mph residential street in the five seconds before the collision and 103mph at the moment of collision (he had claimed that he was going "about 50mph").

Similar convictions have happened in other states as well. The NHTSA has talked about making EDRs mandatory in all cars but since 85% already come with them voluntarily, they have not made such a rule yet. The manufacturers install them for liability protection in airbag deployment cases so their use in prosecutions was not the original intent. The biggest thing about them now is who owns the data and can it be obtained and used by authorities without a warrant. Some states allow unrestricted access while others require a warrant (merely a formality if the car has been impounded).

But these devices do not record your driving habits - just the last five seconds leading up to an airbag deployment.

JoeMidnight

wow! that's good to know, This really was the first time that I've read about this. And no, its not because i own an Audi or Mercedes Benz

yeah - sorry - I should have been more specific and worded it more carefully when i said it logs your driving habits, its not exactly what I meant.

I personally wouldn't care that Police authorities had access to this data without a warrant, i would almost prefer it. This way, the Law can be applied appropriately and criminals not shielded behind any type of amendments and potentially being protected from being caught in any way.

If a driver is innocent,they will always be okay and will comply with authorities. If they were guilty, that's where they may want to have that rights enforced.


Eitherway, that's good to know that almost all car manufacturers have this technology.

Rando

someone beat my response, delete

spqr

I'm not sure I understand why you want police to access the data without a warrant. Any kind of situation where it'll be needed a warrant would be issued. Warrants are a good part of due process, and I don't think it's good practice to circumvent them for persons deemed guilty before trial.

JoeMidnight

You make a good point.

spqr

Thanks.

Aren't some insurance companies recording these metrics nowadays? I think I remember seeing an allstate commercial about giving you a discount if you use their data logger and it says you're a decent driver. Also, with google making cars it'll be interesting how much data our cars start to keep.

JoeMidnight

True enough! I'm still trying to figure out how my insurance premium is actually on par with my premiums for our two vehicles we used to have (2011 elantra and wife's 2008 Hyundai Tucson!) I seriously thought that this EDR feature had something to do with it.

Who knows as long as my rates are descent! 1,100 annually for full coverage! It's really good.

CubAndy

There's Big Brother again...getting in all our business!! I would never be driving 100mph on a 30mph street anyway...that's just plain stupid!!

WhiteBird00

I guess I don't understand that comment. You object to cars having a "black box" similar to what is in every commercial airliner and most private planes so that investigators can accurately determine the conditions immediately prior to a collision? Yet you use Google every day. You probably post on Facebook and/or Twitter. You really object to people collecting data about you?

HoosierDaddy

A black box can help.

I always kept my G-Analyst running continuous loop back in the day and it got me off on a failure to stop and a speeding ticket. There was no chain of custody for the G-Analyst so I could have made a new recording that showed anything I wanted, but the judge was very cool about it and grilled me about the Syclone more than the case itself. LoL

Anyway, long story short, the cops probably did think I failed to stop because they saw me approaching a red light. They looked away for a few seconds and when they looked back I had turned right and was already almost up to the speed limit. So they assumed I could not have stopped my little Sonoma (Syclone) and got back to speed in the time they looked away. They added on the speeding just for good measure.

But the G-Analyst showed I had stopped for .2 seconds and had NOT exceeded the speed limit. But I had the cops all tripped up on the speeding anyway because they had to turn around to chase me and based on where they eventually stopped me, if I had been speeding as they said, they would have had to hit over 90 MPH in bumper to bumper traffic based on the time THEY said it took them to turn around.

One of the cops came up to me in the parking lot after court and gave me his home phone and wanted me to call so we could meet up for coffee. I decided not to.

BBM3

What a great story.

southcarolina12

gm vehicles have access to way more than ford vehicles do. they can also be accessed remotely where fords cant i dont believe. ive never liked the idea but not much i can do about it.

Boomer

Then you have nothing to worry about.


They only get in your business, if you get in someone else's.
To prove or disprove, or even figure out if something SHOULD have happened and didn't, or vice versa.

spqr

It could've been an olive branch, but I wouldn't have wanted to meet for coffee afterwards.

spqr

Make a faraday cage if you're worried about remote access.

WhiteBird00

I think the remote access he meant was GM's OnStar which operates on the cellular network.