Impact Detector

[mike.kryza]

Our daughter used our M45 over the weekend and came home with serious front end/quarter panel damage. She swears it happened in a parking lot while she was away, and the airbags are still intact, but I just doubt that story.

Does the M45 have a system for tracking time/date/speed infomation for any impacts?

[lswaidz]

The car would have to be moving in order for the air bags to be deployed... she may not be lying. When I wrecked my parents car back in the day I told the same type of story... that was until my dad sat me down and told me he had called the police and they were coming out to do paint transfer samples and bringing the "secret" video tapes from the parking lot I was supposedly in to see if I could "identify the crazy person who would hit such a fine vehicle." Obviously, none of this was true, but I was SO SCARED of getting arrested for lying that I IMMEDIATELY told the truth, and wasn't allowed to drive their cars... ever again... this holds true some 10 years later.

[mike.kryza]

I guess its called an Event Data Recorder and I just went back to the manual and the M45 has one.

My question is I guess how can I access the data? What data does the EDR contain?

[szh]

I guess its called an Event Data Recorder and I just went back to the manual and the M45 has one.

My question is I guess how can I access the data? What data does the EDR contain?

AFAIK, the EDR is not usually accessible without special readers. Plus, most importantly, if the air bags don't deploy, the EDR data is not actually recorded.

(Again, this is AFAIK. If you find out anything different, I would love to hear about it!)

So ... the only way to gather data to manage kids with cars is to plan for it ahead of time and get an OBD-2 recorder (one of the tiny plug-in types) that gather and store data for some parameters (like speed, etc.) This may not do anything useful for EDR-like info, though!

And, unfortunately, this is also too late for you for this particular incident!

Z

[xerexabante]

If there are no codes detected you will see no data. My scanner reads a snapshot/ freeze frame for code detected.

[StarPD]

Our daughter used our M45 over the weekend and came home with serious front end/quarter panel damage. She swears it happened in a parking lot while she was away, and the airbags are still intact, but I just doubt that story.

Does the M45 have a system for tracking time/date/speed infomation for any impacts?

Handing the keys for a luxury/performance car like anM45 to a youngster is asking for trouble, but then, you now know that. Even if it did happen in a parking lot, odds are it was because she wasn't careful exactly where she parked it like you might be. But, it was dad's car, so.......

No offense, but suggestion for you in the future, and all the dads out there: Let your kid(s) walk, ride a bike, or get their own car if you have something like an M45. M35, Q45, or even a G35/37. Kid usually don't have the same sense of reponsibility or appreciation for a car or its value as adults do. It's just part of their natural immaturity. They learn quickly when THEIR car gets whacked, and they have to pay for it themselves or pay the increased insurance premiums. There is no way I would EVER, under ANY circumstances let anyone, even my favorite kid who seems perfect in every way, drive my Q45 until they were over 25. I;m not just an old crab either, just aware of how youth are these days.

[mike.kryza]

So anyone out there know what data is recorder by the Event Recorder?

[antzrus]

So anyone out there know what data is recorder by the Event Recorder?

I don't know-but I get a lot of action in the back seat. Is this all on tape?!

[Double E]

StarPD makes an interesting point.

If there is even the slightest inclination that "I just doubt that story" will be your conclusion from someone explaining what happened to your car, (even your own kid) ...then foresight of what NOT to do becomes your responsibility.

Specifically, letting a person use your vehicle with the belief that what they may tell you regarding it's use may not be true, then a larger issue exists in the judgement to allowing them to use it.

Conversely, if you let someone use your vehicle whom you know to be truthful in every way, you'd never doubt their explanation in the first place.

On a more practical level, there is no known way to gather time-based telemetry data from these cars that I'm aware of. If it did exist, it would have likely been exploited long ago ...as this is certainly not the first time a parent questioned the actions of a child concerning a vehicle and certainly not an M.

If it were part of the car's capability, we'd be using it to back up "kill" stories and compare 1/4 times!

Such devices are available aftermarket of course, but they're not cheap. Cheating spouses and rental companies have driven the demand for them I suspect...

I believe I would chalk this one up to not considering the possible consequences and resolving not to get placed in this position again. Of course, file the police report for insurance purposes or do whatever you need to get it fixed.

Perhaps a decades from now, the matter might get truthfully resolved at the wedding reception, baby shower or when her own kid begins to drive and it will be worth a laugh. For now, I would stop doubting your kid. It can only add to the mistrust that may be currently dividing the relationship and your kid probably feels bad about the accident too. What cost is that to a parent compared to the cost to fix the car and bite the insurance premuim increase anyway...

I realize I'm in a comfortable position to think this way because it didn't happen to me, so feel free to ignore the above if you're still upset at the situation. Hope it works out.

[candymanfb]

I like your perspective of what is really important.

[Boon]

I like your perspective of what is really important.

No doubt.

So if she's lying, will the car fix itself? If so I hope she is lying.

As long as she is ok and the car can be fixed, I don't see what the big deal is.

Make her watch a few CSI episodes then use the whole "calling the cops out so they can start an investigation" line. Maybe this will make her tell the truth. Let her know they will use her cell phone coordinates to verify her location and times so they can find the culprit. If she still doesn't buckle then she is telling the truth.

[StarPD]

The girl MAY have had an accident. Then again, she may just be guilty of not being responsible in where and the way she parked the car. Teenagers don't always pay much attention to their surroundings, or the consequences of actions that to them seem innocuous. Most of us are pretty careful of where we leave our cars, and how we park them, including which parking spots to choose. Something like that might not even enter a teenager's mind. After all, it's not her car, and she probably thinks she has a "right" to park anywhere she wants, and no one "should" damage it. That's just how some kids think.

You'll probably never know whether the damage is her fault, either from an accident or where/how it was parked. One thing you SHOULD know however is to never again trust her with your new M, which is something I would NEVER have done in the first place. The damage is done. All you can do now is to make sure it never happens again.

You have our condolences and our sympathy.

[mike.kryza]

Still looking for someone who knows what the Infinity Event Detector records. Also if the airbag has to deploy for it to record anything.

[THT]

Still looking for someone who knows what the Infinity Event Detector records. Also if the airbag has to deploy for it to record anything.

Have you tried calling an Infiniti dealer?

[Manok]

Have you tried calling an Infiniti dealer?

that would be to easy.

[szh]

Have you tried calling an Infiniti dealer?

Unfortunately, I doubt the dealer would know much about this.

I'd suggest a call to Infiniti Corporate instead. Number is on their web site, as I recall (but may be wrong).

Z

[tkeskic]

The data recorder records everything;Speed, direction and stress points (used by airbag system), VDC, steering wheel position, Brake position etc in the car for some time previous to the accident. This is done to provided evidence in a trial where a serious accident has occurred, or where mechanical failure is suspected;

For example; if the air back does not go off, and you were traveling 50mph and it should have gone off this caused death, you family could sue the manufacture for a failure of the system; And hence this data could be used as evidence in a trial. With that logic, it would not make sense that the data is only recorded "if" air bags are involved;

The sensors literally record everything from gas pedal position, acceleration, the data from stability control system etc; This data is constantly recorded for a specific period of time (ie, the last 10 min or something like that, I dont recall the exact amount of time)

Further, some systems even record the weight of the people sitting in the seats (to prove who may have been driving). Getting access to this data is very hard as its designed to be used in only the most seriose of car accidents for the purpose of understanding what has happened to prevent it from happening again and where criminal charges etc may be involved.

Each manafacture has a team of people that read the DMV and police reports looking for odd events, and send out a special team to investiage. For example, a accident that 5mph that causes death could make the investigation list; The system is very intergrated, and hard to get to the for something as simple as what was claimed in this thread.

I have seen some of these reports from a GM car, and the data is massive. They generally use a bit of software that reads the data, but then dumps it into a simulator so they can see exactly what happened.

I would suggest that if you cant trust your daughter when she tells you how it happened, you have bigger problems. Also try the following websites for future tracking purpose:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/...R.TMPh ... /s...25196

There are hundreds more of these sites, if you dont find what you are looking for on the above 3 links

[danmeljeff]

I seem to recall a feature in the diagnostic mode that shows when an error occured. With this, it'll show the location via the navigation where the error took place.

see the link below for how to access the diagostics mode. I can't recall the specific menu to find the error report feature, but it doesn't take too much to look through the options available.

zerothread/162860

On a side note, I too like the idea of using scare tactics to see if the "truth" changes.

Good luck with the repairs.

[mike.kryza]

I did. They were clueless.

that would be to easy.

[THT]

If anyone would know, it would be your insurance agent.

[Mark Linkous]

Hello,Mike, sorry for your troubles. EDR's are kinda scary to me. It is just one of many ways in which insurance companies try to deny responsibility. In fact, these data recorders are being used in litigation. Something feels wrong to me about your property being used against you.Only you know your daughter. If her track record is one of veracity, I would give her the benefit of the doubt. I would imagine a competent collision center might be able to shed some light on the damage as well. A good deal less Orwellian too.M.L

[RNF]

Have a read here here Mike. This may help you a little.
Modified by RNF at 7:03 PM 6/17/2008

[MagicM]

Even if the car was moving with front end/quarter panel damage it still might not trip the sensor to deploy the airbag. My father had a collision in his Acura TL where the front end got torn off and no air bag, and from personal experience when i had my 01 Pathfinder somebody came head on at me and hit the driver side hard enough to rock the car and i felt it still no air bag. Could be a parking lot accident or maybe she hit and run, only she knows.