Car black boxes will record four times more data before a crash

New rules require event data recorders, or "black boxes," in cars to record 20 seconds of pre-crash data instead of 5 seconds. This means investigators will have much more information about what happened right before a car accident.

For years, accident investigators had a very short window of data to work with from car black boxes. This change means they will have a clearer picture of driver actions, vehicle performance, and environmental factors leading up to a crash. This extra data could shift liability in accidents and inform future vehicle safety designs.