I was reading on some site that theres a guy named Rusty Haight and he crashes cars into each other and he claims that in most 97+ cars they have a piece of technology that records data and stores it , Speed,RPM, etc right before a crash (probably retains the info if the air bags are deployed) . Do these civics have that?

Interesting, I have never heard of that besides the black boxes on airplanes. I think I will do some research on this.

i know newer GM cars have what you would call a little black boxs , the company says that it used only for their info and research for when a vehicle is in a accident but alot of people think that the insurance company will use the info against someone in a accident

interesting.

Im still wondering why it took me till today to find out about this technology. Its not very well known is it?

I could see where the "black box" works against you.

I wonder if the Civic has this "black box"

Not that I know of. I dont think the civic has black box.

Black Boxes ?...Lets leave that to the airplanes

No, it's true. There are "black boxes" in some cars now. It basically stores data like was said above, speed, rpm, throttle, braking, airbags, the car's sensor readingd, etc. It is true, that the automotive manufactorer's deveolped this so that they could analyize them after a crash and see how the saftey systems performed under the circumstances. That way, they felt, they could have real life info and use this to improve the safty systems. However, some prosicutors, insurance companies, and other legel parties involved after a wreck have tried to go to court so that they can make the information from the "black box" availibe in a court of law. They feel the box wil show what really happened, so in some cases they have tried to go to court to make it abmisable. I know that they have won and gotten it abmissable before a few times (around the country), but I also know that thier motion has been overruled before. I know last year, Dateline had a story on this, and the raging debate over how they should be allowed to be used. What has happened since then in regards to this, I am not sure. I do not know whether 97 + civic's have these or not. But they were orginally intended by the OEM's to analyze data to aid in improving safty systems, not to aid insurence in determianing in the innocent or guilty party. It's the prosicution, insurence, lawyers, etc, who sometimes want to use it to show "the conditions under which the wreck occured."

There may be black boxes in some cars at present but as for the civic, not that I know of.

Vehicles having these so called black boxes has its pros and cons. Looking at the benefits...car manufacturers can study data and improve the safety of the vehicles they produce.

No, it's true. There are "black boxes" in some cars now. It basically stores data like was said above, speed, rpm, throttle, braking, airbags, the car's sensor readingd, etc. It is true, that the automotive manufactorer's deveolped this so that they could analyize them after a crash and see how the saftey systems performed under the circumstances. That way, they felt, they could have real life info and use this to improve the safty systems. However, some prosicutors, insurance companies, and other legel parties involved after a wreck have tried to go to court so that they can make the information from the "black box" availibe in a court of law. They feel the box wil show what really happened, so in some cases they have tried to go to court to make it abmisable. I know that they have won and gotten it abmissable before a few times (around the country), but I also know that thier motion has been overruled before. I know last year, Dateline had a story on this, and the raging debate over how they should be allowed to be used. What has happened since then in regards to this, I am not sure. I do not know whether 97 + civic's have these or not. But they were orginally intended by the OEM's to analyze data to aid in improving safty systems, not to aid insurence in determianing in the innocent or guilty party. It's the prosicution, insurence, lawyers, etc, who sometimes want to use it to show "the conditions under which the wreck occured."

Very interesting. I wouldnt be surprised if one day in technology insurance companies wouldnt mandatorily check these black boxes and see how often you speed.... just a thought.

Anyone else have any more information on this interesting topic?

Very interesting. I wouldnt be surprised if one day in technology insurance companies wouldnt mandatorily check these black boxes and see how often you speed.... just a thought.

Anyone else have any more information on this interesting topic?

Another good point. Could be a form of invading a privacy. :2cents:

Another good point. Could be a form of invading a privacy. :2cents:

This is a good example, of how not all new technology made to help is a good thing. As this examples show, there are ways it can be misused, which is never a good thing to have happen.

good thing I have an older Civic... but for those who might have one of these "black boxes" I would learn all I can about it, find it, and take the d@mn thing out!!

I know M3s have them. Many people drive the car off the lot and try to race it before it's even broken in. If something happens to the engine, the dealership won't cover the costs. It can read and store your RPM.

we used to have a montana van untill my bro crashed it, and there was question on if it was driver fault or if it was the car. we didnt know about the box until the dealer rep asked us if he could look at it to see all the info. From what i know he got speed (10 sec b4 the crash and on impact), if the gas or breake was being used if air bags were deployed and there was more but i dont remember. basically he wanted to see who was at fault and he said that he didnt have to show anyone else (cops) o and in the van it was placed right behind the glovebox.
just thought id share that.

I agree with Miataracer, if you have a black box...find that sucker and rip it out...and if it's part of the ecu in the car...then so be it, pay the money and switch to an aftermarket standalone ECU, which won't have a black box...To me, it'd be worth the trouble and costs to remove it...that's an invasion or privacy IMO...and I don't care what the dealership tells me in that regard...that black box is BS, and I don't want one on my car...as Miataracer said, good thing I have an older civic.

i heard of those black boxes a long time ago, i did not think anything came of it though. I hate this crap. I wish I was born 40 years ago.

i heard of those black boxes a long time ago, i did not think anything came of it though. I hate this crap. I wish I was born 40 years ago.

Technology always comes at a price, to a certain extent.

yeah i had a suped up subaru, the ecu actually records data in those, how high the tach was running and such. i have a diagnostic computer system from snap on, you would be suprised at how much it can tell you about a car and even when the check engine light comes on, it records what you were taching during certain occasions, sucks but food for thought.

yeah i had a suped up subaru, the ecu actually records data in those, how high the tach was running and such. i have a diagnostic computer system from snap on, you would be suprised at how much it can tell you about a car and even when the check engine light comes on, it records what you were taching during certain occasions, sucks but food for thought.

Yea, it does suck. They tied it into the ecu. I suppose the only way to circumvent that would be to remove the stock ecu for a standalone unit. Of course, if warrenty is important that will void it, but that seems like it would solve the problem of the ecu recording the data. If it were me, I'd rather remove the stock ecu for a standalone in this case, if that will actually work in solving that issue.

These units are integrated into the "SRS sending unit". When I used to remanufactured these we would dump the data from a reman unit and upload it to Delco every few months.What they did with the info I will never know lets assume that they used it for R&D.

I'm not sure of other countries but I know in America we have the right to not incriminate ourselves in a court of law...right..so what is this info doing in the court room. It is your personal information until the insurance company hands you a check, then its their's what happens from there is a gray area from what I have understood.

Ok with that said...IMO we are the ones that buy these vehicles so if you don't want it ..then dont buy a vehicle with it on there, if a vehicle you are looking at does have it let the auto manufacture know that the reason you are not buying their product. It may seem like a little thing but if 2 million people do it that really hurts a company and would make them change this.

I can say for sure most GM models have this unit but for others im not sure..lets assume anything with an airbag does have the capability of recording data .. after all it is how the SRS system makes it's decisions.

Ok there's my 2 cents

P.S. lets dont even talk about onstar tracking .. and what they do with that data ; (

lets assume anything with an airbag does have the capability of recording data .. after all it is how the SRS system makes it's decisions.

Ok there's my 2 cents

P.S. lets dont even talk about onstar tracking .. and what they do with that data ; (

The airbag is deployed based on an impact sensor, not speed, brakes, tach, etc...like the black box also records (otherwise it would shoot out under heavy braking). Many olders cars that have airbags do not have these black boxes, 5th gen civics are an example...still though, it's safe to say most new cars have them, and yes, all new cars have airbags. You can't just "avoid buying one" like you said...there comes a point, and there WILL definitely come a point in the future, when it's just not feasable to buy a 1992 car to avoid the black box. When that point comes, you don't have the luxury of saying "I'll buy a good older car." And when that point comes, yes...I WILL remove the STOCK ECU for a quality aftermarket standalone unit if I have to, and it need be, I will consider removing the airbags, maybe a new sparco steering wheel (I would think long and hard though before I did anything with the airbags). You may think it's an invasion of privacy, and truthfully it is...it's not supposed to be used in courts either...but in all true, this HAS occured before...me, I'd rather do what it took to remove it and cover my butt. It's a matter of principle with me.