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Post by tcrashfx on Apr 13, 2007 5:27:47 GMT -5
By Julie Montanaro New cars come with a lot of bells and whistles these days, but you may not know most of them also come with a black box, a data recorder similar to those in airplanes, that can reconstruct the final seconds before a crash. Deputies recently extracted a black box from a Chevy truck involved in a deadly Valentine's Day crash. It can tell them exactly what happened behind the wheel in the five seconds before impact. DEP Lonnie Seay with the Leon County Sheriff's Office Traffic Unit says it can tell them a multitude of things. "The speed five seconds prior to impact, whether they had their seat belt on, how many people were in the car depending on the position within the car, where they were sitting and the amount of throttle they were using, the amount of braking they were using. It gives us all kinds of information."
I am surprised that here has not been a bigger storm of controversy on this issue.
Big Brother and all. Imagine your car continually recording force data as you drive down the road, without your written consent! Data that can be used against you in court. |
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halk3
Full Member
The Programmer
Posts: 186
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Post by halk3 on Apr 13, 2007 9:01:01 GMT -5
I wonder if the 'Black Box is connected in such a manner that any attempt by the owner to disable it will Void Warranties and/or Render the vehicle inoperable.
Remember the seatbelt interlock system in the mid 70s?
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Post by tcrashfx on Apr 13, 2007 11:32:33 GMT -5
Disabling the "Black box" will ensure your airbags will not work when they need to work. (The "black box" is the part of the system that tells the air bags to fire.) Most vehicle models will not start (Or allow you to put the car in "Drive") until the SRS system is checked and found to be working. Note the little blinking "SRS" or airbag icon on the instrument panel when you start your car).
I would say that there is some "fine print legalese" in both the Owner's Manual and most insurance policies. If there isn't now, there soon will be.
I guess folks could carry a powerful magnet around and if they are involved in a crash, they could take the front passenger seat out (Or center console) and wave the magnet near the sensor!
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Post by el Gusano on Apr 13, 2007 12:48:57 GMT -5
Or simply spend the money to completely redo an older car every few years.
(Or just buy a Toyota that runs forever.)
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