US Mulls ‘Black Box’ in new cars.
From the 2nd page of the article:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief David Strickland told a congressional hearing on Thursday that the regulator is considering whether to make “black boxes” mandatory for all new vehicles.
The devices can capture data on speed, braking effort and other details which can be vital in reconstructing accidents.
You see, it is for your own safety.
Actually, mandatory black box use produces a double bonus for the nanny state:
— black box can capture “unsafe” behavior and alert law enforcement and/or your insurance company.
— coupled with a GPS unit, the black box can measure mileage and locations, forming the basis for time- and location-sensitive road use taxes.
Now’s the time to start fighting back: http://www.motorists.org
Good luck with getting VW to agree to that. From what I’ve heard, due to their run in with certain totalitarian regimes, they have a law against black boxes.
“Ausweiss, bitte.”
…and the gearhead magazines will have an article on how to defeat said Black Boxes on the first day of the first month that they are mandatory.
BTW, do all you guys take all these Toyota-zoom reports at face value?
I don’t. Some probably happened, but I’d bet that there are also Toyota owners who see dollars instead of sugarplums in their sleep, and are gaming, hoping to be part of a huge payoff. O’Bumble will aid that payoff if he can, because of the anti-Toyota bias of his Administration. The UAW REALLY wants those southern assembly plants.
…and the gearhead magazines will have an article on how to defeat said Black Boxes on the first day of the first month that they are mandatory.
Right. Until the nanny state decides that roadblocks (excuse me, “DUI Safety Checkpoints”) can also be used to verify the proper operation of all onboard powertrain management equipment, including embedded recording devices:
“Sir, your event data recorder has been tampered with. We’re seizing your vehicle, here is a summons to appear, minimum $10000 fine plus court costs and impound fees. Have a nice day.”
http://www.epa.gov/oms/regs/fuels/cff/memo-1a.txt