I wouldn't have any problem with them looking at my vehicle. But then that's all open and in public for everyone to view. The recorder on the other hand isn't. I'm against the black box because I consider it a gross invasion of privacy. Just the way I view it.
It's starting:
Kentucky case to use automotive 'black box' technology
Associated Press
Previous reports Editorial: Black Boxes in Cars Open Privacy Concerns
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A northern Kentucky manslaughter trial could join a growing number of cases nationwide in which jurors receive information from data recorders pulled from vehicles.
Federal officials estimate the so-called black boxes -- similar to those found in aircraft -- are installed in 15 percent of the nation's 200 million passenger vehicles. Like their aerial counterparts, the black boxes in cars and trucks keep precise information about speed and braking just before a crash.
The northern Kentucky case begins in January in Kenton County.
Lloyd Robinson, of Florence, faces a manslaughter charge in the May 2003 death of Kentucky Fish & Wildlife Resources Officer Doug Bryant. Prosecutors say Bryant stopped Robinson along Interstate 75 near Florence, but Robinson sped away after Bryant got out of his truck to approach Robinson's car.
They both crashed, and Bryant, 62, was killed.
The trial had been scheduled for this summer but was delayed after the judge ordered Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Bill Crockett to subpoena Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford Motor Co. for the data from Bryant's truck and make it available to Robinson's lawyer.
Dean Pisacano, who is representing Robinson, said he is not sure yet whether the technology used in the truck will be useful.
Mike Vaughn, a technology spokesman for Ford, said all Fords have had data recorders since 2002, but only a few models have advanced capabilities that have been the focus of critics of the technology.
Some of the boxes can record such information as pre-crash speed, braking, direction of travel and even seat-belt use. American Civil Liberties Union lawyers say motorists don't necessarily know their vehicles have them, and information from the recorders could be used to invade people's privacy.
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Not all of what is looked at on a vehicle is "all open and in the public for anyone to view". For example, if the steering column linkage is hidden from view, would investigators be violating your privacy by examining it? Don't think so.
I understand the way you look it at. What I don't understand is why. Reasons given don't add up to me. Are their hidden reasons? I dunno, maybe we just think different.
Of course the data needs to be interpreted, same with any other forensic evidence.
I don't think it's likely that any major speed measurement error in the case of a collision would go unnoticed, since the SDM also calculates the collision delta-V based on the accelerometer readings, which is independent of the normal vehicle speed indication.
I'm not entirely sure why I'm against it either :P. It's just one of those things I guess. Different strokes for different folks.
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