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Almost all new cars sold in the US have EDRs (Event Data Recorders or "black boxes"). Per the NHTSA in 2013, they are currently actively installed in approx 96% of new passenger and light-duty vehicles.
Manufacturers originally started putting EDRs in cars in order to perform post-collision analysis and gather statistics that could help them figure out which safety systems were actually most beneficial. Now, of course, it's used by ins. companies (or others) frequently in accident related litigation.
The US D.O.T. mandates that any manufacturer who installs them also provide the software and hardware tools necessary to extract information.
In Dec 2012, the DOT proposed new rules which specified certain exact data collection minimums for EDRs and would also require their installation in all new passenger vehicles effective Sep 1, 2014. The public was given until Feb, 2013 to comment on this proposal.
I have no idea what happened after that.
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