[kaminski]

Black Boxes or Data recorders have been available for vehicles for quite a while now, in fact by installing one will get you an insurance discount in certain states in America and certain countries in Europe. Throw in a dash cam and recording unit and get an even bigger discount!

Data recorders will remember your speed, steering angle, when you brake, your location and it'll give all that information to the authorities if necessary. That's right, folks, black box data recorders, which are mandatory in planes, may soon be a legal requirement in cars -- in America, at least.
According to Car and Driver Magazine, the Senate Bill number 1813 states that "new passenger motor vehicles sold in the United States be equipped with an event data recorder."

The data recorders will be required to "capture and store data related to motor vehicle safety covering a reasonable time period before, during, and after a motor vehicle crash or airbag deployment, including a rollover."

The exact data these systems will capture have yet to be confirmed. However, one can reasonably expect systems related to the factors that commonly contribute to accidents to be recorded. So Expect speed, brake force, steering angle and location to be a part of the data set.

Interestingly, Senate Bill 1813, makes it clear that any data recorded by the black boxes is the expressed property of the owner of the vehicle, or in the case of a leased vehicle, the lessee of the vehicle. It states that data recorded or transmitted by such a data recorder may not be retrieved by a person other than the owner of the vehicle unless a court authorises the retrieval of that data in order to further legal proceedings, or if the owner consents. Parts of the Bill also state that emergency services will be able to access the data without a court order in cases where such data would help them respond to an emergency.
Some sites I have read are speculating that ECU interventions will also be recorded by the black box, for what purpose, well, one can only imagine.

Is this a good idea or not? I can imagine in some regions, this idea would be deemed an invasion of privacy. Do you think it will contribute to better driving habits when you know your car is fitted with such a device?

[vr2turbo]

If you mean fitting them here, well I still wondering what has happened to those on our trucks and buses?

[kaminski]

If you mean fitting them here, well I still wondering what has happened to those on our trucks and buses?

They fell off apparently
Personally I think they are a good idea, they do get people to change their driving habits. As an example, the last mine I worked in we always had problems with employees treating company property as trash, not good when you are investing half a million dollars a year in light vehicles. So we fitted some data boxes to some vehicles that relayed live information back to the managers office. Then we downloaded the info and had a series of safety meetings and disclosed the content showing people driving at 120kmh in 60 kmh zones, where and when, we even had one vehicle in an accident, due to loss of brakes allegedly, but the data showed the person driving in excess of the speed limit and applying the brakes too late. Needless to say that after that, almost all employees started driving safely and we fitted over 50 percent of the fleet with data boxes.

[vr2turbo]

I agree with you that this is good. In fact, I was all for it when road transport mention that the buses etc. will be fitted with them, but alas as usual we never have follow up on most things in Bolihland.....

[kaminski]

I agree with you that this is good. In fact, I was all for it when road transport mention that the buses etc. will be fitted with them, but alas as usual we never have follow up on most things in Bolihland.....

Yeah, I was coming back to KL from Taiping recently and its scary when you are doing the max speed limit and you are overtaken by a bus load of school kids!

[SplitFire]

If you mean fitting them here, well I still wondering what has happened to those on our trucks and buses?

THese are gadgets manufactured under the law using rakyat hard earned moneys to be fixed onto all lorries and busses compulsory. Guess what?


The manufacturer getting richer. Or maybe the middle man getting richer.

How I wish to be part of the cronies.

[vr2turbo]

Yeah, I was coming back to KL from Taiping recently and its scary when you are doing the max speed limit and you are overtaken by a bus load of school kids!

Yup, many times already I have been overtaken by buses when doing our max speed limit on the NKVE...

[vr2turbo]

THese are gadgets manufactured under the law using rakyat hard earned moneys to be fixed onto all lorries and busses compulsory. Guess what?


The manufacturer getting richer. Or maybe the middle man getting richer.

How I wish to be part of the cronies.

Yup, whack one round then disappear. Next when something happen again, then this will surface, and then whack another round....