NASCAR Racers Get 'Black Boxes'

Aug. 22, 2001 -- Starting next season, NASCAR will require all race cars to come equipped with "black box" technology similar to that used in airplanes.

Prompted by a six-month investigation of driver Dale Earnhardt's death, NASCAR officials announced the new safety requirements on Tuesday.

"We have committed to the installation of crash data recorders," NASCAR President Mike Helton said. "Such devices will help drivers, owners, manufacturers, and NASCAR study how impacts affect drivers and cars."

In automobiles, black boxes usually receive information from the vehicle's air bag sensing system. The black box module will store information such as the speed of the car, whether the driver was wearing a seat belt, when an air bag was deployed, and whether the driver used the brakes.

The data is stored on the car's computer chip and can be retrieved by investigators following a crash.

Data Will Lead to Safer Cars

Doctors and officials from the National Transportation Safety Board said the information helps them better understand how the human body tolerates car crashes and could be used to construct safer cars.

By mandating the use of the technology, NASCAR is following the lead of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) and the Indy Racing League (IRL).

Since the early 1990s, both CART and IRL have been using black boxes supplied by Ford and General Motors in an effort to better understand the forces in crashes. Until now, NASCAR had resisted using the boxes on its cars.

According to Bob Lange, director of engineering safety for GM, the technology has led to better crash protection for drivers.

Ford and GM also have used various versions of the technology in many of their consumer car models for several years.