chopperpl

I decided to create new thread about it...
...when I was studying manuals I noticed our cars are equipped with EDR (Event Data Recorder) which is equivalent to plane's black box
You guys should read about it, and contact your legal rep asap. Basically it stores data of all events that happen right before the accident (your speed, gear, brake pedal position, etc...) It's all they need to make you guilty of an accident, and raise your insurance premiums....

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

Yep, Heard of it for almost 10 years now since my 1999 Infiniti QX4 black box save me from a legal liability.

chopperpl

10 years ago????
I remember they introduced black boxes in corvettes about 4 years ago, and that made a big news on TV about people's privacy... The outcome was dealers have to disable it if requested by the owner, but they suppose to stop putting them in new cars...

trusso

....or clear you of an accident and keep your insurance premiums from going up.....
"contact your legal rep asap"?
Either you are an attorney or the guy that goes flying by me on the freeway.

I'll tell you that if we were involved in an accident and you were at fault, my EDR recordings and the fact that you requested yours to be disabled would speak heavily in court, especially if backed with a driving record. (not saying there is a driving record, just making a statement)

The G Man

There are black box in almost all cars these days, and no, the dealer will not disable it for you. It is there mostly to cover the manufacturer's behind so you cant sue them. The data can only be use if there is a court order.

IXI187IXI

iTrader: (3)

exactly. if you are not doing anything wrong i dont see why you would want to get rid of this? this saves the problem of he said/she said when your involved in an accident.

chopperpl

..anything wrong??? Please, don't tell me you drive accordingly to the speed limits... The point is it may save your butt, but can also destroy your innocence. Any attorney can make you guilty of the accident if you were 5+mph over the limit... let's say you were going down the hill, and some senior citizen just pulled out of the driveway crashing into your side... I want to see you talking about justice then...

IXI187IXI

iTrader: (3)

i understand that but your only looking at the negitive side of this. what if your the person pulling out of your driveway and someone crashed into you? im sure you'd be pretty pissed to find that the person who hit you had their black box disabled so you couldnt find out how fast they were actually going.

its a double edge sword.

trusso

Destroy your innocence? I thing the term you're looking for is "hide your guilt"
"an attorney can make you guilty of the accident...." if you were the one speeding, aren't you guilty?
How dare that senior citizen back out of their driveway into your speeding path!!
Seriously LMAO!!!
You should ask them to unplug your speedo too, then you're not really speeding, right?? hahaha!!!

I think I'm way clear now of why they put these "black boxes" in cars...any questions?

The G Man

In a way, these black boxes are a invasion of privacy. If you think about it, the black box add to the cost of the vehicle, so the owner of the vehicle actually owns the black box. The owner of the vehicle then should be the owner of the data thats inside the black box. yet the owner does not have the access to the data. Many people are interested in the data developed by this black box, but they do not seem to be interested in asking or paying the car-owners for this data.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration may soon require all automobiles to have these Black Box. The button line is, is it a safety feature or is it a invasion of privacy.

trusso

I understand the idea of invasion of privacy and the fact that these data recorders should be able to be accessed by the "owner" of the recorder, otherwise the NTSB should subsidize sales to offset the costs of the box. I see it as "it is what it is" and it doesnt bug me that much.
Safety feature or invasion of privacy?
I think people dont care until effected by the situation.
If this box helps clear someone of an accident or crime, it's a safety feature.
If someone is guilty and caught because of the box, all of a sudden it's an invasion of privacy.

If you drive on the streets and race on a racetrack this quickly becomes a non-issue and invasion of privacy woes go away.
If you commit a crime, are you not guilty as long as nobody knows you did it?

Please dont take my speech as an "I dont speed" because I certainly do, if I get a ticket I deal with it.

chopperpl

Well... negative, or positive I rather have that disabled. I understnad it may save my butt one day, but somehow I've managed to avoid dangerous situations so far, and I'm still able to judge if incoming car is flying down the road or not...
I don't want to sound like a street racer. YES, I do use mirrors and directionals (not usual in NorthEast), and I do maintain clean driving record. I just believe I have more chances of getting hurt than benefit from the black box.

dunnojack

the box is for research purposes.

toyota needs the box to fix the bugs

chopperpl

Speeding path???? Are you saying driving up to 5mph over the speed limit should automatically make me guilty of the accident instead of careless blind dude???? In this case we should all forget about mods to our cars, and stay pure stock. Adding 19" wheels with 30 profile will increase your real speed by 2.2mph. What about that my friend? Should custom wheels make you guilty? I'm pretty much sure your EDR would show the wheel speed instead of "real" speed, but if you are talking about morales here then you should tell judge your speedometer is not accurate...
I think EDR's are good for drivers that go 50mph on the left lane...

chopperpl

I wish it was the only purpose for it. There is a disclosure in manuals stating all info may be released if ordered by the court...