# 2025-21506: Cars to Snitch More Crash Secrets by 2028

2025-21506, Event Data Recorders, is a Federal Register proposed rule from Transportation Department, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published 2025-11-28, effective 2028-09-01; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-06-08).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-21506
- As of: 2026-06-08
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Document number: 2025-21506
- Title: Event Data Recorders
- Type: Proposed Rule
- Agencies: Transportation Department; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Citation: 90 FR 54619
- Published: 2025-11-28
- Effective: 2028-09-01
- Comments close: not stated
- Significant: no
- Touches household money: yes
- Regulation identifier numbers: 2127-AM78
- Last updated: 2026-06-08

## In one line

Cars to Snitch More Crash Secrets by 2028

## Summary

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is updating rules for Event Data Recorders (EDRs) in vehicles, making them record more data for longer before a crash. This affects car makers, who now have until September 1, 2028, to start following the new rules, with a four-year phase-in to full compliance. The changes aim to improve crash data while giving manufacturers extra time to adjust without rushing or extra costs right away.

## Abstract

NHTSA published a final rule on December 18, 2024, in response to a mandate of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) to establish the appropriate recording period in NHTSA's Event Data Recorder (EDR) regulation (49 CFR part 563). The final rule amended the pre-crash data capture requirements of EDRs by increasing the recording duration and sample rate from 5 seconds at 2 Hz to 20 seconds at 10 Hz. The agency received three petitions for reconsideration from the Alliance of Automotive Innovation, the EDR Committee of SAE International, and FCA US LLC (a subsidiary of Stellantis N.V.) in response to the final rule. NHTSA is proposing to delay the compliance date from September 1, 2027, to September 1, 2028, and implement a phase-in period for EDRs to meet the new requirements.

## Effects PRIA read

- One-Year Delay and 4-Year Phase-In: benefit, medium. NHTSA proposes moving the first compliance date from September 1, 2027 to September 1, 2028 and adopting a 4-year phase-in: 25% of a manufacturer’s applicable vehicles must comply from 9/1/2028–8/31/2029, 50% from 9/1/2029–8/31/2030, 75% from 9/1/2030–8/31/2031, and 100% on or after 9/1/2031. Small…
- EDR Recording Specs Kept at 20s/10Hz: benefit, medium. NHTSA is not changing the December 18, 2024 technical requirements: Event Data Recorders (EDRs) that are subject to Part 563 must record pre-crash data for 20 seconds at a 10 Hz sample rate (20 seconds, 10 samples per second).
- Projected Cost Savings From Delay: benefit, medium. NHTSA projects that the proposed one-year lead time extension plus phase-in would yield quantified societal cost savings of $33.15 million to $83.80 million for model years 2027–2030 (discounted savings of $29.77M–$75.23M at 3% and $25.95M–$65.57M at 7%).
- Driver Privacy Protections Reaffirmed: benefit, low. NHTSA states EDRs do not record personally identifiable information and reaffirmed the Driver Privacy Act of 2015: the vehicle owner or lessee is the owner of EDR data, and retrieval is limited to safety research or with owner consent or a lawful order.
- Risk Some Models Could Lose EDRs: cost, low. NHTSA acknowledges that if manufacturers determine the costs or technical issues of compliance outweigh benefits for certain models, they may discontinue installing EDRs in those vehicles, risking reduced availability of EDR data for some cars.

## Related documents

- [2026-19964](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-19964): The Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule III for Model Years 2022 to 2031 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks, 2026-09-30
- [2026-11072](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-11072): Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 214; Side Impact Protection; Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 305a; Electric-Powered Veh…, 2026-06-03
- [2026-08144](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-08144): Administrative Rulemaking, Guidance, and Enforcement Procedures, 2026-04-27
- [2026-05024](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-05024): Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Modernization of FMVSS No. 102 To Accommodate ADS-Equipped Vehicles, 2026-03-16
- [2026-05023](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-05023): Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Modernization of FMVSS No. 103 and FMVSS No. 104 To Accommodate ADS-Equipped Vehicles; Incorporatio…, 2026-03-16
- [2025-22674](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-22674): Public Hearing for Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards: The Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicle Rule III for Model Years 20…, 2025-12-12

## Sources
- [2025-21506 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/28/2025-21506/event-data-recorders)
- [2025-21506 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-11-28/pdf/2025-21506.pdf)

## Related
- [Previous: 2025-21495, Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Helicopters](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-21495)
- [Next: 2025-21557, Air Plan Approval; Virginia; Repeal of Existing Stationary Source Regulations](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-21557)
- [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-21506 (as of 2026-06-08).