Regular readers of this column should be familiar with Event Data Recorders or EDRs. These are the devices known as “black boxes” that are located in many recent model cars and trucks. They record things like speed and seat belt usage and braking the moment before a crash.
They were designed to help manufacturers design safer vehicles, but the police have found that the information they contain can be helpful in court cases.
A number of privacy groups want to put very tight controls on who has a right to that information, which they argue should be the vehicle’s owner.
Several states have passed laws restricting access to the EDR information, but a number ofgroups, including the insurance industry are fighting back hard.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants every new car and truck sold in the U.S. beginning in 2008 to have one of the devices.
NHTSA believes the information will help make vehicles safer — the same reason the manufacturers built them in the first place.
However, the agency isn’t mandating that owners’ manuals make drivers aware of the existence of these devices until 2011.
If entire cars can be built that include the devices by 2008 why can’t the existence of the EDRs be printed into the owners’ manuals at the same time?
The frightening thing is that it’s very possible for the information collected by the black boxes to be connected to GPS navigation systems, and to have that information sent to law enforcement officials, who could then issue tickets based on the information.
You think red-light cameras are controversial?
Wait until the first person gets a speeding ticket based on EDR information.
Throw in the ability of jurisdictions to enforce seat belt use and any other types of violations and the EDR could be the best friend that the local treasury ever had.
The insurance industry is very interested in seeing these devices in place as soon as possible, and it wants access to the data.
This information could be used to calculate rates.
Were you going 83 mph on I-95 in Lorton at 3 a.m. April 14? Do you tend to hit your brakes very hard? Do you and all of your passengers ALWAYS wear your seat belts?
The big problem is that most people have no idea these things exist or that their shiny new car might be equipped with one.
Right now a little fewer than 20 percent of all cars and trucks on the roads have them.
But that number will go up rapidly after 2008.
In a recent survey on AOL Autos, 91 percent of those responding were against the black boxes. I have to agree.
The risk of this information being used simply for surveillance by law enforcement and the insurance industry outweighs the needs of the manufacturing industry. After all, it managed to make cars for 80 years before these devices came along.
The issues and the balance are between safety and privacy. I don’t think what these devices can do in the name of safety are worth what we might have to give up in terms of privacy.
