As AutoBlog points out, it’s been working
its way through Congress for years, but an event recorder mandate – similar
to the ‘black boxes’ that record incidents in airplanes – could soon become
law.

According to Car and Driver, The Senate has already
voted to adopt a transportation bill that would make the recorder mandatory by
the 2015 model year. Car and Driver reports the House of Representatives is
expected to pass a similar statute.

What is likely to be in the law, according to C&D,
is the standard date set that the Department
of Transportation has set forth, 15
measurements that include direction of acceleration, throttle position, and
time that the airbags fired, among others, as
AutoBlog notes.

In the Senate version the data in the box is owned by
the owner of the vehicle, according to C&D, but law enforcement can obtain
a warrant to obtain the information. First responders and paramedics wouldn’t
need a warrant, as long as the information was needed in order to respond to an
emergency.