U.S. to propose mandatory vehicle 'black boxes'

[Argo]

The U.S. Transportation Department said today it will propose making vehicle "black boxes" mandatory in all vehicles by the end of the year.

The department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has long considered whether to make black boxes, officially called event data recorders, or EDRs, mandatory. They collect data about the seconds leading up to a crash and can help investigators determine the cause.

Last year, Congress considered requiring EDRs in all vehicles. NHTSA Administrator David Strickland told Congress the agency was studying the issue.

http://detnews.com/article/20110526/AUTO01/105260436/1148/rss25

 

[Glaucus]

Well, I fully oppose this. Once again the government is catering to the interests of corporations, in this case, the insurance corporations. Not sure why we all need to pay for these black boxes, crash scene forensics is pretty good these days. It's only a matter of time before they'll use those back boxes to charge people for speeding. And of course whatever happens in the US, our piece of shit PM Harper will do the same here.

 

[cybereye]

That device already started before the government pushing for mandatory. Most cars already have EDRs and are not mandatory by the government. Cars that have the black box are already paying for the device. The car manufacture put the device to study the impact of cars and people behavior. The cars manufacture does not have to hire a third party crash scene forensics. That gave the government an idea to use it for evidence for law makers. People should tell the government hand off that blackbox. That only for study for the car manufacture and cannot be use for evidence.

 

[redrumloa]

Don't be naive CE, when they pass laws they do it for a reason. Some time down the road those black boxes will have specific gov requirements and eventually those requirements will be to track 100% of your driving habits.

 

[cybereye]

Don't be naive CE, when they pass laws they do it for a reason. Some time down the road those black boxes will have specific gov requirements and eventually those requirements will be to track 100% of your driving habits.

I agree with you, but where do you draw the line when the government start using the blackbox as tracking your behavior just as a red light cam. I know that just an idea that is far fetch. It just another forum of database that collected. As I had made a point about the driving licsenc in this "Newest big brother tool? The DMV" threads.

 

[redrumloa]

I agree with you, but where do you draw the line when the government start using the blackbox as tracking your behavior just as a red light cam. I know that just an idea that is far fetch. It just another forum of database that collected. As I had made a point about the driving licsenc in this "Newest big brother tool? The DMV" threads.

I'm against all of it.

 

[Argo]

I'm pretty sure my mechanic mentioned these to me last year. He said downloading the info was going to be part of the annual inspection process. That being NY state requiring the the collection of information from these devices in car already equipped with them.
The Federal government seems to be looking to retrofit all cars. Once something like that happens or years down the line when the majority of cars on the road have them, the government will no doubt require more and more information to be recorded. Oregon is looking at a miles driven tax to replace or supplement the state gas tax. They want gps recording of the vehicles travel.
Highend cars are coming with ir or radar collision avoidance systems. The industry is already talking about networking cars so cars on the road can communicate with each other for shared collision avoidance and other safety measure. Police agencies would like to use this networking ability to be able to issue kill engine commands, door lock commands, etc. I'm sure hackers will have fun, too. Imagine police cars downloading EDR info though this wireless car network. They will bill it as an extension or evolution of their high speed cameras that can check the license plates of 1600 cars per hour.

 

[Glaucus]

Cars today may have these devices installed, but am I currently required to keep the device on the car? Or repair the device if it breaks?

And like mentioned above, the use of these devices will evolve and our privacy will be threatened by the government and of course hackers. I see no real need for them. Automobile safety has only gotten better with time, I don't see why we need such technology. There's no viable argument, except for governments who wish to use the info for their own agendas. This is the sort of thing we need to resist strongly from the beginning. Otherwise, we're screwed for ever.

 

[cecilia]

anyone looking at my driving data will fall asleep from boredom....
will they need such data for cars that drive themselves?