Getting Crash Data From Your Vehicle

Monday, October 16th 2006, 10:48 am

By: News On 6

Most cars today have data recorders built in and if you have an accident, Tulsa Police can retrieve information from that recorder. It records things like how fast the car was going before the crash and whether or not the driver was wearing a seatbelt.

Tulsa Police learned how to use this technology Monday to help them investigate accidents.

News on 6 anchor Terry Hood says Tulsa Police have actually been using what they call "crash data retrieval" for a while. But they would always have to call on other agencies to help them download the information.

Tulsa Police held a training class, teaching officers how to do it on their own. 30 officers will be given the software and the training to retrieve important information at crash scenes from the cars involved.

The News on 6 asked Tulsa Police Sergeant Rick Bondy to show us exactly how they'll do that. "Basically, we would hook up the recorder to our laptop computer then plug into this module right here. Now thatâ€™s the module that people normally take their car in to get it serviced where the service department would hook up their computers. Itâ€™s the main vehicle diagnostic port."

Sergeant Bondy tells the News on 6, there are other ways to get the data if that diagnostic port has been damaged in the accident.

He says they'll still use their normal methods of investigation at most accidents. This new technology will be reserved for those crashes with unanswered questions.