The Toyota sudden acceleration litigation has focused public attention on the fact that many late model cars contain event data recorders (i.e., “black boxes) - devices that, under certain circumstances, record information about what happened in and around a vehicle in the moments before and during a crash. We are accustomed to hearing about the use of such devices in reconstructing airplane crashes, but the fact that many of us are driving around every day with these black boxes in our cars, “spying” on us as we drive to work, has come as a surprise to many.

Event data recorders (“EDR’s”) have been a hot button issue in automobile products liability cases for years. What we have recently been discovering, however, is that the use of EDR’s has now extended into dangerous roadway cases and even garden variety auto accident cases, not to mention criminal matters.

The following are some facts and considerations to keep in mind when deciding whether to seek EDR evidence and whether to cooperate with or oppose efforts by the other side to obtain such evidence... Click here to continue reading.