Before trading in an aging vehicle that may be minus air bags and many of the electrical doodads and tracking systems now routinely installed on newer models, consumers may want to read about the latest safety equipment being considered for all new vehicles.
Data recorders, as reported in news coverage about a fatal auto crash last month in western Augusta County, Va, seem to be here to stay:
First Sgt. Scott VanLear said the black box was requested from Progressive Insurance for a white car to determine the movements of the car prior the May 6 accident…. Progressive puts the boxes in cars to track driving habits, VanLear said.
Black boxes, those event data recorders (EDRs) most commonly known for their retrieval after airplane crashes, are already in many vehicles that have air bags, according to Wired.com:
The black boxes can record information leading up to an automobile accident, determine whether passengers are wearing seat belts, record speed and provide other information that can be viewed by law enforcement and insurance companies.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is creeping closer to requiring mandatory installment of the devices in new cars manufactured and sold in the United States. Invasion of privacy? Another example of Big Brother watching over consumers?
For those who consider disconnecting or removing the black boxes, regulations will be in place to prevent that along with the probability of penalities similar to what the government has in place for removing catalytic converters. If there are questions by drivers, they will be directed to check the legal disclosure that is available in the owner’s manual.
So how will it be decided who gains access to the information and under what circumstances? Will it open a Pandora’s Box of legal and privacy issues that future generations will have to confront? Could data be used by police to justify a speeding ticket? On the other hand, would it prove a driver wasn’t exceeding the speed limit? Could it be used to track a driver’s location, perhaps for a divorce cases?
Privacy and legal experts have debated those questions for the past decade, as can be seen in this 2004 Fox News report and, yet, even while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration considers making the boxes mandatory, consumers wait for answers.
As it becomes more common for law enforcement officers to retrieve black boxes after accidents, like the one in Augusta County, watch for lawmakers to become involved with legislation to try and clarify what remains, for now, a murky issue.
