UNECE EDR/DSSAD: Important Developments Towards 2027 and 2028

August 2026 Hans Bot

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Developments surrounding Event Data Recorders (EDR) and Data Storage Systems for Automated Driving (DSSAD) within UNECE are progressing rapidly. The IWG EDR/DSSAD is currently working on the next generation of regulatory requirements, with an increasing focus on the amount, quality, and accuracy of vehicle data.

For professionals working in CDR, vehicle data analysis, and accident reconstruction, these developments are highly relevant.

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Further Development of EDR for Heavy-Duty Vehicles

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One of the important developments concerns UN Regulation No. 169, the UNECE regulation covering EDR for Heavy-Duty Vehicles.

In 2026, the IWG EDR/DSSAD submitted a proposal for Supplement 2 to the original version of UN Regulation No. 169. This proposal has formally entered the UNECE working process within the Working Party on General Safety Provisions (GRSG).

Further work is also underway concerning the application of EDR requirements to vehicles with a maximum mass in the 8,000–12,000 kg range.

This is an important development because EDR is becoming increasingly relevant for buses, heavy commercial vehicles and other vehicles beyond the traditional passenger-car category.

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EDR Step 2 is Approaching

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The next major development is EDR Step 2.

According to the current IWG work programme, this phase is scheduled for March 2027. Step 2 includes further development of:

• additional data elements;

• higher recording frequencies;

• additional event triggering requirements;

• recording related to Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs), such as pedestrians and cyclists;

• further EDR requirements for vehicles equipped with advanced safety systems.

This means that EDR is evolving from a relatively limited "crash recorder" into a system capable of providing much more detailed information for incident analysis.

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EDR Step 3

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The development does not stop with Step 2.

The current UNECE planning includes EDR Step 3 for November 2028. This phase is expected to introduce further requirements and enhancements to the EDR framework.

For the coming years, vehicle manufacturers, testing organisations, investigators and accident reconstruction specialists will therefore need to take into account an increasing amount of standardised vehicle data.

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DSSAD and Automated Driving

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In parallel, UNECE continues to develop DSSAD – Data Storage System for Automated Driving. While EDR is primarily intended to record events surrounding a crash or incident, DSSAD has a different purpose: recording relevant information concerning the operation of automated driving systems and the interaction between the system and the driver.

The UNECE framework addresses the recording and storage of time-stamped and time-series data, as well as requirements for protection against unauthorised access and manipulation.

The initial DSSAD Guidance Document has already been developed, with a revised version (Rev.1) currently planned for June 2027.

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Why is this Important for CDR?

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This development is particularly important for accident reconstruction.

Modern vehicles are equipped with an increasing number of active safety and driver-assistance systems, including:

• Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB);

• Adaptive Cruise Control;

• Lane Keeping and Lane Centering;

• Driver Monitoring Systems;

• other ADAS functions;

• and increasingly advanced automated driving functions.

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At the same time, UNECE is developing regulations for these systems, including UN Regulation No. 171 concerning Driver Control Assistance Systems (DCAS).

This creates an increasingly important relationship between:

EDR → ADAS → Vehicle Data → DSSAD → Accident Reconstruction

 

For a CDR analyst, it will therefore become increasingly important not only to retrieve traditional crash data, but also to understand which safety systems were active, whether warnings or interventions occurred, and how this information relates to the events immediately preceding a collision.

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What Does This Mean for the Future?

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The direction of UNECE development is clear:

More data. Higher accuracy. More standardisation.

For CDR technicians and analysts, this means that the knowledge required for professional accident reconstruction will continue to evolve.

 

The traditional question:

"What happened during the crash?"

is increasingly becoming:

"What was the vehicle doing, which safety systems were active, and what information was available in the seconds leading up to the incident?"

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For EUDARTS, these developments underline the importance of continuously aligning CDR training with the latest UNECE regulatory and technical developments.

EUDARTS will continue to closely monitor the work of the UNECE IWG EDR/DSSAD and will incorporate relevant regulatory and technical developments into its CDR Technician and Analyst training programmes as they evolve.

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Source: UNECE / IWG EDR-DSSAD, GRSG and GRVA – current information and work programme 2026–2028.