Feds to REQUIRE black box event recorders in all new cars.

Spectre

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From Dvice/Wired/PopSci:

Feds to require black box event recorders in all new cars

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is expected to issue new regulations next month, that will require a black box style data recorder be fitted in all new cars.

Similar in concept to the familiar black boxes used in commercial aircraft for decades, the boxes are expected to record information about speed, seat belt use and brake application in the final seconds leading up to an accident, the data can be retrieved for later analysis.

Before you start screaming about government overreach, you should know that almost every new car already has a device like this fitted at the factory. For example, GM has fitted one to almost every new car they've built since the early 1990s.

The new rules are aimed at evening out a patchwork of state laws about who can access to the data, while standardizing the devices themselves so that the data is easier to recover. Currently, the devices are used mostly be car manufacturers to cover their own butts, by helping to determine whether an accident was caused by driver error, or some problem with the vehicle.

This sounds like a sensible idea, as long as strict limits are places on what data is recorded, and who has access to it. The potential for abuse is huge, such as cops using it to issue speeding tickets, or GPS data being used in a divorce case to show who you were visiting. Still, the upside could be pretty significant too, for example proving that you weren't speeding when you had an accident.

Personally, I think I'll stick with my very analog 1985 Diesel Mercedes. The most sophisticated electronic device in that car is the AM/FM radio.

My comments on the article: They note that existing cars have such capability and this is true - car makers started installing limited recording functions after the insane lawsuits leveled against them.

However, the information on them is proprietary and difficult to access. If you want to pull the data off the most popular cars, you will need several multi-thousand dollar rigs (because every maker is different), and most current ones only record the last 30 seconds or so prior to an airbag event or the point at which you plug in the recovery rig. They don?t keep long-term tabs on you precisely because of privacy concerns.

This new reg means an OBD-II like (in terms of standardization) interface that will allow any government agency to easily and quickly pull any data off it that they want to. Logging time will be ?indefinite? with indefinite persistence. Nice, huh?

Now we see what Cash For Clunkers may really have been aimed at - getting older cars that do not have such capabilities off the road and forcing people into new Big Brother-equipped vehicles from here on out.


Sooo... who did you vote for last Presidential election? I don't remember Big Brother being on the ballot, but apparently he was.

Edit: More information/commentary on these new regulations that seem to have slipped under the radar here: http://www.examiner.com/finance-exa...atory-black-box-installed?fb_comment=33589026

I'll also note that no US-market motorcycle, not even the stupendously complex Goldwing and BMW touring bikes, has datalogging capability.

If you don't like the idea, here's some links to write your Representative and Senator. Maybe its time to defund NHTSA until they get a clue as to who Ray LaHood and company really need to be answering to.
 
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It didn't matter who you voted for last election, Big Brother was already here(Patriot Act, Bush jr. and Cheney). Why do you insist on turning everything into a political discussion?
 
Spectre, you're mostly awesome, but sometimes I want you to decide to not type things.
 
It didn't matter who you voted for last election, Big Brother was already here(Patriot Act, Bush jr. and Cheney). Why do you insist on turning everything into a political discussion?

I don't remember any part of the Patriot Act, Bush's policies, or Cheney's want list that included what was essentially the placement of tracking devices on every American's new car. I seem to have missed this somewhere...

As for political? Sorry, this is both automotive news *and* political. There was no precedent for mandatory tracking devices in the private cars of people who were not accused of or convicted of any crime. Forcing it upon new car buyers (and at their expense, of course) is not political how?

In addition, the government still owns an automaker, GM. How can it NOT be political at that point?

Also, you're always screaming about 'violation of rights' (especially in the political section) - why aren't you screaming the loudest about this?
 
I don't like this, but I don't see any "trackers" being mandated.

the boxes are expected to record information about speed, seat belt use and brake application in the final seconds leading up to an accident, the data can be retrieved for later analysis.

What I did see was:

This sounds like a sensible idea, as long as strict limits are places on what data is recorded, and who has access to it. The potential for abuse is huge, such as cops using it to issue speeding tickets, or GPS data being used in a divorce case to show who you were visiting. Still, the upside could be pretty significant too, for example proving that you weren't speeding when you had an accident.

That is cautionary advice. And there could be other good data recorded from these, but I would want the restrictions on what they can and can not record before I want one in my car.

But you immediately went for the who did you vote for approach. Did Obama request this? I doubt it. But that is what you want it to sound like.
 
I generally approve of people who spread information about such things, but there was no need for this to have an anti-Obama overtone. Or any political overtone at all, actually. GM was first putting "black boxes" in cars as early as the 90's, in order to record data about crashes.
 
I think it's wise to find out exactly what the black boxes can do or can record before one gets too hasty.
 
WHEN YOU RIDE ALONE, YOU RIDE WITH OBAMA.

:puke:
 
Can I ride with a boombox instead?


 
Spectre, not only is this a repost, you even posted in the last thread:

http://forums.finalgear.com/automot...ate-black-boxes-in-all-cars-next-month-49549/

You posted in the last thread AFTER i posted this:

It's scaremongering week at Autoblog and Wired!

Wired.com said:
Update 5:30 p.m. May 24: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will require that all new vehicles have an event data recorder. The agency is at this point only considering such a requirement.
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/05/automotive-black-boxes/

What exactly is the purpose of consciously reposting a newsblurb that has since been redacted by it's source, spiced up with some stupid Anti-Obama rhetorics? I've mentioned multiple times that i like how you, even if we disagree on most major issues, have your facts straight. Pulling such a disinformation stunt is below you.

EDIT: Also, write to your local congressman or senator to prove you're an idiot who believes whatever the blogoshphere recylces without checking. All "sources" for this "requirement" refer to sources that refer to sources that refer to the Wired article. And no one bothered to check back to the Wired article and see the Update?
Go ahead guys, write to your congressman. Have your name put on the "morons whose mail we'll recycle unopened" list.
 
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