U.S. Will Not Seek To Require Event Data Recorders In Cars, Trucks

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Tuesday it is withdrawing a 2012 Obama administration proposal to require event data recorders in all new cars and trucks because it says automakers have voluntarily installed the devices in nearly all vehicles. The agency, known as NHTSA, had proposed requiring the devices, sometimes known as “black boxes” in all vehicles, but had not finalized it. The head of consumer advocacy group Center for Auto Safety questioned the regulator’s move. In an email, director Jason Levine said the decision to withdraw the proposal “seems especially problematic as the need for uniform crash data elements to assist crash investigators only increases with every iteration of advanced safety technology.”