My dads company recently purchased a 05 F150 as a company vehicle, when we picked the vehicle up and the salesman was reviewing all of its feaures, he informed us that my dads F150 was equipped with a Black Box that could record vehicle speed and other info. and it coudl be used against us in court if he was to have an accident whether it be a single or multi-car accident. I dont know if this is put in all the new F150s, and maybe its an option the truck leasing compnay has access to, but we did not appreciate that Big Brother could monitor how he drives and what he does with the vehicle, not that he intends to do anythign illegal but it is alarming how the government coudl invade something like that. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Just out of curiousity...

 

Will it matter about the black box? They now who is at falt now with out black box
this will only help.

 

A lot of companies now are having black boxes installed in their vehicles to monitor the use. This cuts down on the people abusing the vehicles and using it for things other than what they are supposed to be used for. They can also use the black box if you have an accident to see who was at fault so when it proven that it was your fault they can charge you for the accident and not take a bite from their pockets.

 

I agree with the process of putting "black boxes" in vehicles 100%. I think they should have made this mandatory along with air bags. I don't mind having a data recorder recording how I drive, because it may save my life on day. A drunk who slams into another vehicle, may hire a fancy lawyer to get him off the hook. If the black box was recording what happened, he may face the penalty that he is entitled too. He may not be on the road again right away, so he can have a few cocktails at the christmas party and slam into my wife and kids on his way home.
The commercial airline industry has done it for years, it's about time the auto industry does it.
MK

 

Oh ok... I figured it was probably with the leasing company. Thanks

 

Oh by the way, I should have stated this before, but "Big Brother" isn't monitoring anything. If this black box was hooked to a transmitter, and the information was being beamed to a state tropper that would be a different story. But this is a passive device that does nothing but record vehicle speed, steering wheel position, brake pedal position, and gas pedal position (along with lights, horn, and other electronic equipment.) In a sense, your truck computer has a primitive form of this already in the engine management computer.

 

Its not the government that is putting in the black boxes. It is the manufacturers encouraged by the insurance industry. It is all about safety and reliability. We as consumers are just beginning to see the increase in use of black boxes and the CPM on your automobile. There is new memory "FRAM" that is changing alot of the data recording in automobiles. FRAM retains the data even though the power is gone. They will soon be able to diagnose problems with cars long distance, with cellphone technology. Need a reflash, they will be able to do it long distance. Besides unlocking a car, fixing electronic problems may possibly be done long distance. Experience an emergency, a built in GPS will let everyone know where you are. Ford had an agreement a couple of years ago to develope this technology with Qualcomm. Ford backed out of the agreement. Qualcomm is already doing a lot of this with GM. The positives far outway the negatives with blackboxes. I have black boxes in all of my cars. A Lexus, Jaguar and the F150, which I really prefer to drive.

Jim

 

Only If i can access the Data also!! I would mind installing one for myself though!!

 

This "box" has been in cars for a number of years. As I understand it, when the air bags deploy the "box" records the attitude of the brakes, throttle position, speed, and other little nifty things. So when you have an accident and say..."office, I was only going 12 miles an hour and hit my brakes but because this maniac was driving like he was possessed by the devil..........each insurance company can supeona the black box and find out if you speaketh the truth.

Other black boxes are being used by rental companies. If you go over the speed limit they hit you with a surcharge for unecessary wear on their vehicle.

Imagine you are power sliding around a corner and slam into someone but say it was their fault. Well the box will surely give a clue who was doing what.

Reminds me of a joke........Got pulled over by the troopers last night. Good news is that I only had one beer. Bad news is that it was in my lap.

 

Please god, not another black box thread. I certainly hope the conspiracy theorists can stay out of this one.

 

No conspiracy theories here... I just have a problem with people being able to access parts of my private life. And it was explained to me that its an option from the leasing company, so now I know... I dont see why if someone asks a question everyoen gets all jumpy. Not once in my post did I go off on a tangent about how the government is got some horrible conpsiracy to kill us all or whatever.

 

Just purchased my 04 from a rental car company and would expect that it may have one of those black boxes. Just to confirm that it does, anyone know where it may be
located on the truck?

 

There has been nothing wrong with this thread so far. I have seen too many turn into stories about phone tapping, and men in black suits . I do not think that it is an option just for rentals. All of the major manufacturers either are, or will, be implementing this technology. Much of the information gathered is used to make sure all of the vehicles components are functioning properly. Its an easy way for the manufacturers to do continual research.

 

I guess I'm the first conspiracy theorist to join in, but I ain't expressig my theory. I don't think the governement is out to get you on this one, i think it's more of a thing so that in court someone can't say that "my accelerator pedal stuck" when the data recorder says it didn't. Probably more of a device to cover Ford's butt for things that in the past it was a customer vs. company thing and which one are you going to believe.

Now with the ONSTAR thing and gps and all that, that is a different theory in and of itself that I won't get into. GPS and satellite, if a communication is in the air it's game for anyone.

 

Just how does a manufacturer installed black box record someone's blood alcohol level?

Oh and these boxes are in most new vehicles. It eliminates the idiots that go in for warranty repairs saying " I was just driving and my car blew up! " They plug your car in, see 9000 rpm at the time of failure and the idiot ends up paying for a new engine. Cops can also grab the info for additional evidence on speed of impact etc.