 |
| ▲ Hyundai GV80 operated by Tiger Woods[제네시스 홍보 트위터 캡처, DB 및 재판매 금지] |
US Police “Investigate the cause quickly with a black box… It seems to provide speed information”
Experts “There will be a lot of information in the new GV80 black box”
While US police are investigating the car rollover accident of Tiger Woods, the’Golf Emperor’, attention is being paid to the’black box’ that contains driving information of Hyundai Motor’s Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) that Woods drove.
According to the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times (LAT) on the 25th (local time), the Los Angeles County police estimate the cause of the rollover accident as speeding, and are paying attention to the black box containing the information at the time.
The SUV that Woods drove was the Genesis GV80, which was released in January last year, and it is a model with many driver convenience and vehicle safety specifications applied.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said at a briefing, “Speed may have been a factor in the accident. We hope that we can quickly investigate the cause of the accident through the black box.”
The black box then said it would provide investigators with information on how quickly Woods drove the SUV at the time of the accident.
The Associated Press said, “Investigators will rely heavily on the data stored on the Genesis SUV to find out what happened. The black box can provide a clue to the cause of the accident.”
Black box refers to a metal box in which an aircraft flight recorder is stored, and a device that stores driving information (EDR) in the event of a car accident is also called a black box in the US automobile industry.
Car black boxes are usually attached to the center of the dashboard or under the seat, and the information can be downloaded by the police investigating the car accident.
 |
| ▲ The scene of downloading information from a car black box[미국 사고차량 블랙박스 정보처리 업체 홈페이지 캡처·재판매 및 DB 금지] |
Installation of a car black box is not mandatory in the US
However, if a black box is installed, it is stipulated that information such as speed, whether the accelerator pedal and brake are activated, whether seat belts are installed and whether airbags are activated, and the vehicle rollover speed must be recorded 5 seconds before the collision.
The Associated Press said, citing data from the Federal Highway Traffic Safety Administration, that “currently, almost all vehicles have black boxes,” and that global automakers are voluntarily installing black boxes to enhance safety reliability.
Moreover, as the Woodsga-driven GV80 is a Hyundai luxury brand Genesis car, more detailed information will be recorded in the black box, experts said.
“Hyundai and Kia’s black boxes record driving information beyond necessary data,” explains Richard Rus, an expert in car accident investigation consulting.
He said, “Some models of Hyundai and Kia even store the pre-collision angle of the steering system of the car, so you can see how hard the driver has tried to avoid a collision.” With this, the black box can record data related to this.”