Black Boxes to Track Driving Habits?

Nofsck Ingcloo writes "Nando Times is reporting on a new model of black boxes to track teens' driving habits. 'This is like having a parent sitting next to him second by second.... The kids don't like it, but the parents love it.... Originally developed... for ambulances and fire trucks to reduce crashes, the black box is a stripped-down version of that model.' So, how long before the insurance companies persuade the states to mandate these devices in every car? Or raise our rates hugely and then give a little of it back if we put in the box?"

Another submitter sent in a related submission about the collision data recorders in many late-model cars - which serve a similar purpose as the black boxes described above, but generally only record the last five seconds before an accident.

geemon writes "With the recent stories of rental car companies using GPS to track how and where their patrons are using their vehicles, this information about autos from 1996 and newer having an airplane-like accident "black box" capability was a complete surprise. Tucked under the drivers seat of most GM vehicles, the "black box" can store a variety of info such as vehicle and engine speed, braking, and seat belt usage. Info from an accident reconstruction service that uses this data can be found here. Called "event data recorders", these devices were, "...Originally designed to improve air bag performance based on the severity of the collision, the event data recorder can tell traffic accident investigators about the car's speed; engine RPMs; how far the accelerator pedal was pressed; if the brakes were applied; whether the drivers seatbelt was buckled and what warning lights were on - all from five seconds before impact..." It seems that GM and perhaps Ford have been using this for some time. Here is one company that makes the Windows based retrieval hardware/software combo for $2500. Imagine the uses of this data that law enforcement, your insurance company, and lawyers may have after your next little mishap."

Woah

[Anonymous Coward]

For a moment there, I was getting a bit worried about my wardriving habits.

It is there already!

[www.sorehands.com]

It may not be at that detail, but insurance companies are taking the car's onboard computer when they total the vehicle.

If you are in an accident and the other party's insurance company takes the vehicle, they will check the black box to try to shift the liability from their client onto you.

Dude...

[eyepeepackets]

...you're getting a bell!

not quite

[faeryman]

Larry Selditz will begin selling a teenager's worst nightmare in November - a small black box placed in a car that allows parents to track exactly how their child is driving on the highways.

No. A teenager's worst nightmare would be a little black box that reports their "parking" *winkwink* habits, not driving.

Wardriving

[Myuu]

My Parents:"Collin...Why is it that you seem to slow down when driving by large buildings and stop for short periods of time in the parking lots of large corporations"

How to remove it?

[MongooseCN]

After it's installed how hard is it to take out and leave somewhere?

Johnny pulls in the drive way after coming from a techno drug laden rave fest...

"Johnny, as your parents we're starting to become concerned about you..."

"W..What do you mean?"

"Well according to our black box, you've been spending 7 hours a night at the movies."

"Oh, uh.. right. Ya, uh.. I admit it, I'm a movie junkie."

Re:not quite

[unicron]

Of course, your father always got to see:

10:20:37: NOTHING TO REPORT.
10:25:46: NOTHING TO REPORT.
10:37:33: NOTHING TO REPORT.
10:49:23: NOTHING TO REPORT.
10:55:22: POLICE PRESENCE DETECTED. OFFICER LEAVES IN DISGUST AFTER WITNESSING DRIVER SITTING IN BACK EATING ICE CREAM SANDWICH ALONE.
11:05:29: NOTHING TO REPORT.
11:17:01: NOTHING TO REPORT.

Re:How to remove it?

[Skyshadow]

Remove it?

Step 1: Unscrew cover to expose circuit board.
Step 2: Pop hood.
Step 3: Retrieve jumper cables from trunk (you are in the Midwest, right?)
Step 4: Connect jumper cables to battery.
Step 5: Apply cables to circuit board.
Step 6: Return items to original position.
Step 7: Feign ignorance.

Easy 'nuff.

Work around

[t_allardyce]

I can see it now - the safest driver in school (who is probably the geek) will get paid by everyone else to house their black boxes in his/her car, all at once, all connected up.

They've already had a trial of these

[dfenstrate]

And the version included a cabin sound recorder to capture the last few seconds of activity before impact.

Usually people said, "Oh shit!" some, occasionally you'd hear snoring, but they did find a disturbing trend.

On large 4x4's in the deep south, the last thing said was "Ya'll hold my beer and watch this."

Re:No, *Insurance* Owns Your Car

[Myriad]

I'm still having a hard time figuring out how the last 5 seconds of data is going to be of any use (ok, maybe actuarial data) to the insurance company above and beyond helping figure out the cause of the crash.

Something like this:
Insurance Co: So Mr. Andersen, in the accident report it says you were going 55mph at the time of the accident.
You: yes, that's correct.
Insurance Co: Really? That's very interesting! You see, according to this little black box your car was doing 70mph.
You: uhhhhh
Insurance Co: You should be careful doing that, your car could race up behind you and hit you in the ass.

DAUGHTER TRACK 2000

[Eric_Cartman_South_P]

WELCOME TO DAUGHTER-TRACK .NET v2.0(SP1) LISTING OF LOCALS FOR YOUR DAUGHTER

==========
3:03pm Left School
3:42pm Arrived McDonalds
5:11pm Arrived Library
6:55pm Arrived Boyfriend's House
7:31pm Arrived Pharmacy
8:01pm Arrived Parking-Lot Behing 7-11
9:00pm Still at parking lot.
10:00pm Still at parking lot.
11:00pm Still at parking lot.
12:00am Still at parking lot.
1:32am Arrived home.

Yeah, just what every parent wants to see!

Re:hmm....

[ceejayoz]

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the driving laws for which it stands."

No black box

[acceleriter]

in my vintage Volvo 240DL. Of course, exceeding the speed limit in that bad boy doesn't happen without some time to think about it on the way up to speed.

Re:not quite

[H3XA]

well.... it will after some modifications *wink* *wink*

Put the important question is...... does it dispense condoms?

- HeXa

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:It is their vehicle...

[gvonk]

Imagine. People will start doing the friggin' speed limit. Sounds mighty good to me.

So you were that jackass going 55 in the left lane the whole way back from Florida last week. Thanks a lot, idiot!

Anyway, I see any [non-far-left] lane as "go as slow as you want" and the left lane as "go faster than the car behind you but other than that as slow as you want."

You clearly see it as "Drive 55 miles per hour even though the speed limits in the U.S. are set, on average, 15% lower than the optimum safe speed for the road.

A quick fix.

[ColaMan]

"Hey son, I went to check on your driving last night and that damn box didn't work! Can you explain?"

"Yeah, I accidentally poured my beer into it while driving. Sorry about that. Guess they won't replace that under warranty."

Repeat until parent is broke. Or you have to get your own car.

Re:It is there already!

[kent_eh]

after the insurance lobby is done

I'm more concerned that they will want to download the thing every year when renewing my car insurance.
I have had to do some moderately drastic driving to avoid being rear-ended, or otherwise plowed into.

I'm sorry sir, it apears that you moved from a full stop onto the boulevard last December. Your insurance is now doubled. Have a nice day.