Aurélien Fleurot 07h19, July 07, 2022

From this Thursday, all new models of vehicles homologated in the European Union must be equipped with a black box.

Its official name: "event data logger".

A device that should improve road safety and make it easier to know what happened at the time of an accident.

All new models of vehicles homologated in the European Union must be fitted with a black box.

This device, called "event data recorder", should improve road safety and make it easier to know what happened at the time of an accident.

What exactly will these black boxes record?

Know the speed of the vehicle

The main objective will be to be able to record what happened 30 seconds before an accident and ten seconds after.

This will allow you to know the speed of the vehicle, whether it has braked, accelerated... If you were wearing your seat belt or if you had used your turn signal...

The box records continuously but, if there is no accident, the data is gradually erased.

They are anonymized and do not capture any image or sound inside the vehicle.

Only the authorities will have access to it, not your insurance for example.

>> Find Europe Matin in replay and podcast here

Improving road safety

What will be the consequences of the arrival of these black boxes?

They will primarily improve road safety.

In the United States, where this system has existed since 2015, road accidents have fallen by 20%.

And the other potential good news for motorists is that despite the additional cost of buying a new car, this could lower the amount of car insurance, as confirmed by Christophe Dandois, president of Leocare.

"As the data is anonymized, we will not be able to have an impact individually but collectively and be able to discuss again as and when the decline is observed. And therefore to have an impact on the insurance premium of our customers", explains- he on Europe 1. 

The deployment will be done in two stages: from Thursday, any new model launched by a manufacturer in Europe will be equipped.

And, from May 2024, all new cars marketed must also have a black box.