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Last updated on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
(DALEVILLE) - Delaware County officials say the vehicle involved in a fatal crash in Muncie on Sunday was going more than 110 mph.
The data came from a black box that was removed from the vehicle on Monday. Three people were killed in the single car accident shortly after 4 p.m. on Ind. 67 and County Road 600 West in Muncie.
There were six people in the car - two adults and four juveniles. The driver, Lisa H. Case, 46, Kent Kalley, 46, and Andrew Lackey, 12, were killed in the crash.
Three other children, all 13 years old, were injured in the crash. As of Tuesday afternoon, Savanna Kalley, 13, was in critical condition but stable at IU Health Methodist Hospital. Trace Joiner, 13; and Jessica DeLong, 13, were in good condition at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health.
A vehicles "black box" is actually the airbag control module (ACM). It constantly monitors a number of factors including the vehicles speed, pedal position and brakes. The ACM determines whether a vehicle's air bags need to be deployed.
In the 1990's GM started installing ACM that recorded information. That information could then be downloaded and analyzed. Over the years, other U.S. car manufacturers followed suit. In 2012 the Federal Government made it a requirement in all vehicles manufactured in the U.S.
"There's been a number of studies showing the speed data is very accurate in different manufacturer's models" said IMPD crash scene investigator Sgt. Doug Heustis. "This has the additional capability of catching some of the different factors in a crash that simply cannot be measured at the scene because they are not there."
Heustis says an ACM only records information necessary to determine if the vehicle's airbags need to be activated. The module does not record a vehicles location.
Because the module is part of the vehicle, investigators interested in accessing the information must either get the vehicle owner's permission or request a judge issue a search warrant.
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