Insurance companies will love this. The Authorities will love this. Wives and husbands being cheated on will love this. In short anyone can, legally or with a little bribe money, find out where your car has been.
Congress is now eyeing new legislation that would force the automotive industry to make safety updates to vehicles in the wake of the massive recalls by Toyota. If the legislation were made into law, all automakers would be required to install black boxes into their automobiles and to pay fees to the government to fund safety agencies.
The black boxes would record vehicle parameters leading up to an accident to help investigators determine if the accident was an issue with the vehicle or driver error. The draft of the legislation was released by Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman of California. The legislation would also remove any caps on civil penalties a carmaker was subject to.
The legislation would also give the NHTSA the power to order an immediate recall of vehicles if it finds that there is an “imminent hazard of death or serious injury.” Other sections of the draft legislation would impose new safety standards that relate to brake override systems and preventing pedals from being trapped on the floor.
“Insurance companies will love this. The Authorities will love this. Wives and husbands being cheated on will love this.”
And all the far-left kooks who preach for a bigger government nanny-state will absolutely love it.
And what would be preventing consumers from removing these black boxes?
Oh, good grief! Why not just chip the driver, too? The interpretation of black box data in an accident when one car has one and the other does not opens up a huge can of worms. Who will certify that the black box is actually telling the truth? This is nonsense.
And Americans think china is bad…..
Wow, here I thought the anti-Toyota hysteria was because Japan was refusing to buy worthless US debt…
It’s really about expanding the police state…
http://policestate.tk
I’m glad I’m old…
I’ll never have to buy a new car again, just like I’ll never have to fly again.
Even what’s on tv sucks.
# 2 jclavette
Simple, just like your mattress tag
“Do not remove under penalty of law,”
or
“Warranty Void If Removed”
or any number of ways. If you get in an accident, and the cop finds no black box, the accident is automatically your fault.
Basically as we as a society become more and more intolerant of faulty devices, we are becoming more and more intolerant of people misusing those devices.
We want perfection and we want it now!
# 2 jclavette said, on May 1st, 2010 at 8:10 am
And what would be preventing consumers from removing these black boxes?
Or the low tech solution, smashing them with a hammer?
#8 – or the high tech solution, hacking it?
@#2, #8 law that tampering with them is a crime and that you can’t pass inspection without the working one. Hey, police can even have remote access to them and check if yours is working on a fly with existing cheap technology. Everyone would earn money except the owner.
I was T-Boned in an intersection a year ago. I was making a left hand turn across oncoming 2 lanes. I waited patiently until the light changed amber as the last few boneheads raced through the yellow light. Oncoming traffic in on lane had stopped, and the other… a single car, still way back from the intersection obviously had seen the light change to amber 5 seconds earlier and applied his brakes. I could tell his intent was to stop because the front of his car dipped forward. The light turned red and I proceeded with my turn. The bonehead who should be completing his stop decided to step on the gas and run the light. He nearly killed my wife and son.
Whose fault was it?
so where is the local communist Mr dallas this morning? I figured he could make this GWB and the republicans fault some how in his twisted little mind
# 12 PMitchell
For troll sake; Ok I’ll bite.
You are right, black boxes are not GWB fault; just, everything else bad with the US is.
Driving is a priviledge, not a right. And hacking will become a necessity.
So many people objecting to the truth being known.
All of you should lose your license until you accept responsibility for what you do.
Easy peasy.
# 15 bobbo,
I am with bobbo, I can wait until the government perfects the mind chip. A chip that creates a brain-computer interface that records all our thoughts and actions. No need for wallets or keyboards, because the will directly output data into an external data collection port.
I know, our government want misuse the data and use it only for our good. It will be great if business (bigger the better) can also access this data.
This is OK, we will all be driving bicycles soon any way. Also, there is nothing stopping you from buying old vehicles and restoring them.
16–Future==you do recognize the difference between your brain and your car?
I thought most dumbshits equated their cars with their dicks, but I see the confusion is growing.
Ah, the slipper slope.
Genius.
GM and Ford vehicles already have tech very similar to this, GM keeps data one minute before the accident (airbags deployed) and Ford keeps only from brake application to Air bag deployment data on board. Any insurance investigator already has the ability to pull this info. Sorry to burst everyone’s bubbles. So say it with me now….
SHUT UP SLAVE!!!!
Excuse me, but how do wives of cheating spouses come into this? If the black boxes save only 1 minute of data BEFORE an accident,that doesn’t give the wife much information, does it? If hubby gets into an accident in the wrong part of town, wifey won’t need that box to tell where he’s been — that’ll all be in the police and insurance reports. In other words, that information is already available NOW, so what’s the big deal? You youngsters seem to believe that technology is better than common sense. As someone who’s been around threescore years and more, I can tell you that’s downright stupid.
#15 “So many people objecting to the truth being known.”
Too true.
Do people really have an “expectation of privacy” for something they are doing in public view, on a public thoroughfare?
Next you’ll be telling me people want to sign an initiative petition without anyone else being able to know who actually signed it… oh, wait! 🙂
#19 got it first. Many of today’s vehicles have the equivalent of a black box in the electronic control module. My guess is this legislation would require a much greater capacity.
This looks more like a revenue scheme than anything else.
Waxman. His curse is having to shave in the morning and look at that disfigured puss.
Ok,
this is only the beginning.
They have another device Insurance corps love.
REMOTE KILL..
IF’ your car is stolen, they can use a device to disable your car.
Im a believer in the wild hiway..
Cars should be Death traps..
LET them speed all they want OUTSIDE of cities..
MAKE the driver liable for THEIR OWN damage..
I want you SCARED of driving. and you will be paranoid enough to DRIVE BETTER.
NOT depend on an insurance corp to SAVE you from paying for BEING AN IDIOT.
BASIC Liability should be WITH THE STATE, so that the State KNOWS how many accidents you have had, and if you cant SEE anymore, or if you LOVE your cellphone to much.
I suppose the one that don’t want them speed and drive reckless. I am all for them. Finally we can
Many already have them. Let’s get them in the cars so we can sue the pants off all these idiot drivers! Its about time we have a tell all box in cars. We need to prosecute bad driving that are causing accidents.
We may as well go all in with this. We already have tollway passes, red light cameras, neighborhood crime cameras, ATM cameras, cell phone tracking, warrantless phone taps, drive by smog testing, British spy satellite speed tickets and on and on…
(sarcasm start)
If it saves just one life, isn’t it justified?
(sarcasm end)
Anyone against this must be a bad driver? Because in the end it could get you out of a jam. We all know people lie. At least now you can prove what happened. Makes sense to me. If you drive right you need not worry. I have driven large trucks for 20 years and have had data recorders in my trucks for 10 of those years. Its about time a vehicles have them.
The vast majority of modern cars already have this technology and have for some time… I don’t see it as any big deal and hope that perhaps it will cut down on some insurance scams and lying bad drivers.