Anyone know if the new LX vehicles (which, I guess, is pretty much limited to the 300 and Magnum) if they have the computers that are widely known as "black boxes" that the cops can interrogate in the course of a traffic incident to determine exacly what you were doing before and during the incident?
Good question, I would assume almost all new models (especially from the big
3) already have this. Right now in Florida the courts are deciding (or have decided) that the data stored in the "black boxes" are the owner of the vehicle. But a search warrant could give police access like if a death is involved???JB
I think Ford recently released the tools to Law Enforcement Officials as well.
But I think you will find the data in all recent air bag computers from any make.
Actually all new cars have them now, and I think it is a good idea. Read the story from this mornings paper posted below. Privacy my butt. Don't kill someone and you won't lose your privacy.
Black box sends driver to jail
Court accepts evidence from car's data recorder
Thursday, April 15th, 2004
By Peter Ray
MONTREAL -- A man was sentenced to jail yesterday for dangerous driving causing death thanks to the data recorder in his car that showed he was driving at an excessive speed.
Eric Gauthier, now 26, was driving 131 kilometres an hour when his car collided with another vehicle, killing Yacine Zinet and injuring a passenger on April 19, 2001.
Gauthier was sentenced to 18 months in jail for dangerous driving and nine months for dangerous driving causing injury but the sentences will be served concurrently. He won't be allowed to drive for three years.
Belinda Matthey, the victim's sister, noted the black box in Gauthier's Pontiac Sunfire helped put her mind at ease about what really happened.
"If we didn't know about the data in the black box, we would have always thought my brother was driving fast and that he went through a red light," Matthey said.
Gauthier had told police that Zinet's car had run a red light, but the black box in Gauthier's car showed he was driving between 130 and 160 km/h in a 50 km/h zone.
The trial marks the first time the data recorders have been accepted as evidence in a Canadian courtroom, Crown prosecutor Jeannot Decarie has said. Matthey also said it wasn't a road accident, but a criminal act that was committed "and people have to realize they can be sentenced to prison."
"I'm glad justice has been done and I think other lives will be saved," she added.
Christina Matthey, Zinet's mother, had mixed feelings about the jail sentence. "Nothing can replace my son, but I think, at least, the sentence was the maximum ever handed out in Quebec."
Pamela McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for General Motors Canada in Oshawa, Ont., said when the automaker first introduced the airbag system in 1973, it included the ability to record crash-related data when the airbag is deployed.
"All of our GM vehicles have a sensing diagnostic module," she said.
"The SDM records the condition of the vehicle and how it was operated in a crash or near-crash event such as the engine speed, brake applications, the throttle position, seat-belt usage, air-bag readiness and the severity of a collision."
McLaughlin also said the information can be obtained if a warrant is issued.
McLaughlin added that all automakers have the black boxes in the majority of their vehicles.
Defence attorney Marie-France La Haye argued the black box was an invasion of privacy.
-- Canadian Press
stored data aquisition ?? all airliners have it.
would be better if it was telemetry. imagine getting a OnStar call while driving down the highway to let you know your tire was deflating, or perhaps a support center watching your engine performance to let you know there may be a failure ???
Why make it so complicated? What if you're out of cell range? Get the car to tell you itself that a tire is low, it doesn't need to get transmitted to a call center. And maybe for the engine problem, we can get it to illuminate a light, with a picture of an engine, or maybe a light that says "Service engine soon" to alert people that there may be a problem.
Why make it so complicated? Take care of the friggin' car in the first place, check the air in your tires as you're supposed to, and avoid the failure in the first place.
DS
I thought OnStar was Satellite and had GPS too?
for some folks, a simple warning light or message will go ignored. some data may not be relayed to the driver (engine data perhaps). engineers could then correlate problems from multiple vehicles and have them in and fixed before the problem ever arises....
To the best of my knowledge OnStar uses GPS to find your location, but cellphone service to send and receive data / communications with the call center.
Those people should not be allowed to own cars. Richard
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