Pontiac G8 manual Vehicle Data Recording Privacy, Event Data Recorders

12-16 Customer Information

Vehicle Data

Recording and

Privacy

Your GM vehicle has a number of sophisticated computers that record information about the vehicle’s performance and how it is driven. For example, your vehicle uses computer modules to monitor and control engine and transmission performance, to monitor the conditions for airbag deployment and deploy airbags in a crash and, if so equipped, to provide antilock braking to help the driver control the vehicle. These modules may store data to help your dealer/retailer technician service your vehicle. Some modules may also store data about how you operate the vehicle, such as rate of fuel consumption or average speed. These modules may also retain the owner’s personal preferences, such as radio pre-sets, seat positions, and temperature settings.

Event Data Recorders

This vehicle has an Event Data Recorder (EDR). The main purpose of an EDR is to record, in certain crash or near crash-like situations, such as an airbag deployment

or hitting a road obstacle, data that will assist in understanding how

a vehicle’s systems performed.

The EDR is designed to record data related to vehicle dynamics and safety systems for a short period of time, typically 30 seconds or

less. The EDR in this vehicle is designed to record such data as:

•How various systems in your vehicle were operating

•Whether or not the driver and passenger safety belts were buckled/fastened

•How far, if at all, the driver was pressing the accelerator and/or brake pedal

•How fast the vehicle was traveling

This data can help provide a better understanding of the circumstances in which crashes and injuries occur.

Important: EDR data is recorded by your vehicle only if a non-trivial crash situation occurs; no data

is recorded by the EDR under normal driving conditions and no personal data (e.g., name, gender, age, and crash location) is recorded. However, other parties, such as law enforcement, could combine the EDR data with the type of personally identifying data routinely acquired during a crash investigation.

To read data recorded by an EDR, special equipment is required, and access to the vehicle or the EDR is needed. In addition to the vehicle manufacturer, other parties, such as law enforcement, that have the special equipment, can read the information if they have access to the vehicle or the EDR.