Black Boxes??!! In cars??!!

[thrasher]

So, you can get "black boxes" for your car at a very cheap price. Insurance companies are starting to use them to rate drivers, parents are using them to monitor the driving habits of their children. I've even heard of a debate in the car companiea about making them standard on every new car sold. I think it is absolutely ridiculous. I would never put one of these into any car I own, period. My every move in the car does not need to be monitored. All the insurance company needs to know is that I haven't had any tickets or accidents. That's it. So what do y'all think?

[Damien]

^Ditto. It makes sense, if you look at it from an insurance perspective, but the big thing one can fight for here is privacy.

Other thing is, I'm not exactly sure on the details of how a black box works. I know it records everything, but does it display on some computer simulation how we drive???

[uranium235powered]

UHh....I'm sorry, but what's a black box?

[Vtec913]

If my parents put one in my car I'd just tear it out and throw it off a cliff

And theyre little boxes that measure speed, lateral g's, and they beep wicked loud if you floor it. Very annoying. And it displays all this on a computer program that parents look at. What the hell is with this world
:

[clawhammer]

Yeah, another excuse for insurance companies to jack up rates. I speed usually, but I don't get caught (usually). If they were to put one of those in either of my cars, and classify me as a "high risk" driver, which is probably what would happen, I would sue the insurance company.

[TaNK_Em]

Hell no is that shit ever going in one of my vehicles. I heard about this awhile ago so if you get in a crash and whatnot it displays when you hit the brakes your speed etc etc. Insurance companys would just love to have them though.

- Kevin

[uranium235powered]

Ah, I see. I wouldn't want one in my car.....I wouldn't even get one of those optional GPS navigational systems on my car.....so they won't catch me.

[Raz_Kaz]

Most people werent even aware of the black boxes on the newer cars until several years after. I forget what the original use for it was but it sure as hell is a privacy breach.
If they are allowed to monitor me driving then I should have the same type coverage on how they perform their job...see how they like being strapped to a black box

[mike5721947]

a black box records the speed the vehicle is going and if and when brakes or accelerator is pressed right before a crash (if nither is pressed usually driver is asleep at the wheel, if brakes the person tried to stop but failed too in time, if accelerator driver either hit wrong pedal or intentionally hit someone or something) (i think it records 30 seconds before crash) GPS tracking is used to find the speed and where a vehicle is (thats how parents can monitor there kids) (they're two different systems)

at least this is my understanding of these systems.

and some vehicles already have black boxes in them to recover information on the vehicle before a crash. i remember chrysler has them in there vehicles.

[BP2K2Max]

it only records 5 seconds before the crash and it's incorporated into the airbag system.

some info:
http://www.newstarget.com/001464.html

http://www.expertlaw.com/library/acc...ck_boxes2.html


i don't disagree with the proposed uses for insurance claims and such. i don't like the fact that it's capable of recording "reckless driving habits" aka street racing. it's not so much that having the box in your car is bad, it's what the parameters the govt sets as to how the box is used, who owns the data that is being downloaded to the box, and who has the right to look at it. does law enforcement have the right to look at the info on the box? do they need a warrant to do so? is the info downloaded on the box even considered your property? the current proposed uses for the technology don't bother me, it's the potential uses that i don't like.

[drewh4386]

just another cover-up for a gateway for invasion of privacy. You start out little under the public radar then you gradually get bigger so it won't be as hard for the public to agree to it.

[v10_viper]

I think the only way insurance companies could make you use them is if you have to pay little to no money on insurance, fuck them if they want to do that. Or maybe you should be able to put them in yourself if your a decent driver and get insurance money cut down to some incredibly low prices, otherwise a hammer sounds like a nice option to one of them.

[WickedNYCowboy]

Well from what I can recollect I believe Caddilac has had them in the DeVilles since they did the redesign putting the infered(Sp?) system in. So it has actually been a while. I personally think that it is more good then bad. But I am pretty sure the invasion of privacy quacks(in the US for sure) will have a field day with this.

[RickwithaTbird]

I agree with BP2K2MAX. I don't care if its there, as long as nobody can use it against me. But if they are going to look at my driving habits and determine that I'm a high risk driver, thats where I think it would be wrong. Imagine how high insurance rates would be if they found out all the times people were speeding.


But lets look at this like they are: they want to see pre crash information. I'm sure that with all the time and money put into developing and using these boxes, they could instead just actually investigate the crash like they DONT do nowadays. Usually all the information you need can be found from the scene of the accident, and the damage of the cars. Not always, but usually. I dont think it would be worth it to put black boxes in every car unless they were going to serve another purpose as well. Also, what percentage of cars are involved in such a major accident which the fault can't be determined anyways? Wheres the problem they are trying to fix? I would guess that 90 percent of accidents don't need some box to say whos at fault, and the other 10% could be determined by anyone with a physics degree. What a serious waste of time and money.

[drewh4386]

yeah the might as well put chips in our brains to see what we were thinking before the crash to actually see what happened. My car was rear ended about 5 months ago and the other drivers insurance was allstate (damn pricks). I was lucky because the officer at the light seen everything and had it on camera. cool a officer was my witness...anyway I hired an attorney because allstate was trying to make it seem like that accident was my fault. I was like OMG! what more do i need to prove? so black boxes would really help if there were no cameras to go along with them. I hope not. but you know those boxes are going to be used for monitoring driving habits. why else waste that much money to say there for accidents..



Also allstate can kiss my ass beacuse i still haven't recieved my damn check for my estimate and they haven't return my attorneys calls in weeks also. No my attorney does suck because he's been a family friend for years and has helped my dad and sister in way less fucking time than this.