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Injury Sciences Launches `Black Box' Web Portal for Auto Insurers

    SAN ANTONIO--Oct. 23, 2002--Injury Sciences LLC announces the launch of its Event Data Recorder (EDR) Web Portal: A solution that assists automobile insurers in harvesting automotive "black box" or EDR data.
    A vehicle EDR is a device that records and stores data from an automobile collision. Black box information is accessible in many vehicles that are originally equipped with devices that detect collision events and assess their severity for the deployment of occupant protection systems such as airbags.
    Although the harvestable information varies by make and model on vehicles equipped with EDRs, key information includes: Pre-crash information five seconds prior to impact measured in one second intervals (e.g., vehicle speed, engine RPM, throttle position, braking status) and/or post-crash velocity changes. This data is often stored and harvestable even when the airbag is not deployed in moderate or minor collisions.
    With the EDR Web Portal, claims professionals can quickly identify which automobiles have harvestable "black box" information and what types of EDR information is available in specific vehicles. The Web portal also offers access to a network of service providers throughout the United States who are equipped with the Vetronix Crash Data Retrieval (CDR) system to harvest the "black box" information and a secure data vault for these providers to transmit and store the information for secure viewing and analysis by the claims professional.
    Near term uses of EDR data will largely benefit individual claim evaluations by:

-- Determining accident severity for the vehicles involved in the collision (including low impact collisions)
-- Identifying injury potential in low impact and moderate-severity collisions
-- Identifying accident causation and other negligence/liability issues
-- Determining driver seatbelt usage

    When aggregated over the longer term, EDR data will benefit insurance pricing and underwriting departments as well as collision repair management.
    "The EDR Web Portal is the first and only solution designed for claims professionals to facilitate the use of `black box' data in claims evaluations," states Scott Palmer, president and CEO of Injury Sciences. "We expect this product and the `black box' data to revolutionize how auto accidents are investigated and evaluated," he adds. Within the first month of its availability, three major auto insurers in the United States have licensed the EDR Web Portal.
    Injury Sciences LLC, a San Antonio, Texas-based company, develops forensic technologies based on the conduct and accumulation of research related to accident and injury events. WrExpert, the flagship product of Injury Sciences, is a revolutionary expert system that enables claim adjusters to calculate the actual severity of a collision (with or without "black box" data) and determine what injuries, if any, should be expected. WrExpert uses scientific methods developed by leading providers of integrated medical and biomechanical engineer consulting services who have spent decades studying the physics of automobile collisions and the response of the human body to accelerations experienced during crash events. With WrExpert, claims professionals have the benefit of this research and experience in assessing claims.
    For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.injurysciences.com.