TAMPA, Fla. -- An arrest warrant for Cameron Herrin, the driver of the Mustang police said hit and killed a mother and her toddler on Bayshore Boulevard, was driving at 102 mph at the time of the crash. It also says the driver began a hard braking right before the crash.
That information is from “electronic evidence obtained from the Mustang during a search warrant,” according to the court documents.
Jeff Armstrong, an expert in crash reconstruction with Armstrong Forensic Engineers, said chances are Tampa police used the Mustang's event data recorder, or "black box," to pinpoint its speed at the time of the crash.
“It would record basically what was going on the last five seconds prior to the accident,” Armstrong said. “How fast the car was going, and it'll do it in like one second or half second snapshots. It'll tell what the accelerator position was. Was it 25 percent, 50 percent, or pressed all the way down? It'll tell generally seatbelt usage.”
Armstrong said it only records if you hit something, accelerate rapidly or slam on the brakes — anything that would prompt the computer to decide whether to deploy the airbag.
While some people have concerns the black box violates privacy, Armstrong said it’s only recording while you’re driving in public view in most cases anyway.
“A lot of people say it's not fair that my car that I bought and paid for can record information that can be used against me in court,” Armstrong explained. “What I tell them is if you're obeying the law, it's going to support you in court. It's not going to hurt you.”
Federal law requires all new cars to have an event data recorder or black box. Most cars built after 2012 have one, Armstrong said. The black box does not track your location, he explained, and police need a warrant, written permission from the vehicle owner or a court order to access it.
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