Photo courtesy Snohomish Fire District 4
SNOHOMISH — Collision investigators know speed was a factor in the fatal March 17 crash at Second Street and Maple Avenue, but may never know exactly how fast the driver was going. The driver’s 2007 Honda Civic didn’t have an Event Data Recorder (EDR),
a telematics tool informally known as a ‘black box.’
The driver, from Snohomish, died after hitting a traffic pole and the car split apart. He was attempting to pass a white truck turning left at Maple Avenue and clipped the truck, rotating the car broadside into the pole.
Toxicology results are still pending, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Courtney O’Keefe said last week.
Honda didn’t begin installing EDRs in its vehicles until the mid-2010s. For comparison, General Motors started offering EDRs in its vehicles in the mid-1990s, and Ford started in 2001, according to the company Collision Reconstruction Consulting.
GM’s version is OnStar, which it promoted as a lifeline that calls 911 after a crash.
