From a Columbus OH Dispatch Front page today (by Allison Manning)

Drivers might want to think twice before telling a police officer they were going the speed limit right before a crash.

Their cars might know better. Crash-scene reconstructionists increasingly mine data from “black boxes,” more technically known by such names as “air-bag control” or “system deployment modules,” that capture information a few seconds before and after a crash.

Data can be as simple as vehicle speed and as complex as engine speed, speed by an individual wheel and whether the brakes were applied.

And, after new rules from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration take effect next year and mandate that new vehicles with the modules record certain data points, getting consistent information could become easier. The NHTSA plans to announce rules later this year requiring the modules in all passenger vehicles.

“As technology develops, we get more and more access to an unbelievable amount of information,” said Sgt. Frank Horvath, a crash reconstructionist with the State Highway Patrol. “The number of vehicles (with modules) is going to just keep increasing.”

 

So, they could probably get you for lying to a police officer, obstructing justice, or some such in addition to speeding, reckless driving, etc. Honest certainly is the best policy.

 

Coupla years ago, a story made national headlines. A guy claimed he stopped at a 4 way stop sign. Then when he proceeded, he was broadsided by a car that he claimed didn't stop.

The driver and passenger, young woman and her child were killed.

Guy was driving a late model GM car with On-Star. When the polizei checked the 'black box' .. they found the guy was actually driving 70 MPH when the accident occurred.

So he lied to save his own skin, cuz he thought there were no witnesses.

 

The data collected by black boxes can also protect you/save your own butt when the other driver lies and claims you did something.

I agree with Gary, honesty is always best.

To my knowledge, police departments won't go through the expense of retrieving data from those things unless a major situation has transpired, usually resulting in people being killed.

 

Sadly, the majority of vehicle operators (can't really call them "drivers", as they don't qualify for that title) drive in an unreasonable manner, making this type of info more important to determine the true cause of many accidents.
The boxes can only record what the vehicle was doing, not what the idiot behind the wheel was doing besides (barely) operating the vehicle........

 

I wish there was a way to record what the driver was doing, like using the phone on a call or texting, fussing with the radio, etc. Recently there was a push by Congress asking the automobile manufacturers to discontinue the race to bring more confusion to the driver. Don't think it went anywhere, but I think it is valid.

 

Cell phone records will confirm if someone was either on the phone or texting. The current progressive insurance ads are interesting. They plug a module onto the OBDII port and record data to "give you a safe driver rate" I'll bet they use it to up your rate too. I have only one vehicle that might be capable of that currently on the road, an '05 Chrysler Town and Country. The only other one might be the '95 Lincoln Continental as it is one of the first OBDII Fords.

 

There are plenty of legitimate uses for these types of recording devices in vehicles, but they're still too much of a step along the road to the total surveillance society for me. I don't imagine it will be long before they try to ban all vehicles WITHOUT data recorders from the roads...goodbye, old F-150s!

 

Wouldn't it be possible to retrofit one of these "black boxes" in these old trucks in case the goverenment wants ban them ?

 

At an exorbitant cost, I'm sure. These boxes record many of the parameters that modern computerized vehicles are already measuring - speed, braking, RPMs, acceleration, you name it. None of those measurements, nor the sensors to generate them, exist on most of these trucks, so they'd all have to be added in, depending on what the minimum requirements are.

Besides, I'm sure they'd rather have an excuse to ban the trucks altogether. They're bad on gas, bad on emissions, bad on safety...it's for our own good, really!

 

If it comes down to it I'll retrofit (with some help from my brother in law) those boxes in my old truck (when I acquire it). If I wanted a new truck I would have already gotten help to buy one already. Besides these old trucks were built to last compared to the new stuff.

 

Jeez, the paranoia I sometimes see out here is astounding....

 

It's not paranoia when they're actually out to get you.

 

I think going thru the black box is an excellent idea. Think of all the GUILTY people that get PUNISHED for doing WRONG, just like they should be. And not getting of scott free

If you are doing Nothing wrong then you have NOTHING to worry about

 

"If you're doing nothing wrong, you've got nothing to worry about" has been the motto of every police state throughout history. It's funny how quickly the definition of 'wrong' can change...