Black Boxes for Vehicles To Be Compulsory by Next Month
By next month, every driver in the U.S. will be required to have a black box in their vehicle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will declare that all automobiles are required to contain the event data recorder – similar to those found in aircraft – in order to monitor driving habits and provide a snapshot of the final moment of impact if the car crashes. The snapshot will be able to be viewed by law enforcement, insurance companies and automakers and the owner of the vehicle will not be able to turn it on or off. Critics of the mandate see it as another Big Brother-style invasion of privacy by the government while others believe it is a way to keep tabs on drivers. It will also make it easier for insurance companies to settle claims and have access to circumstances surrounding car crashes. Wired cites an example, in 2002, of a car which had a black box – many who have airbags already have one – being used to implicate a driver who went on to be convicted for manslaughter. Two teenage girls in Pembroke Pines, Florida, died when their car – which was backing out of their driveway – was struck by a Pontiac Firebird Firehawk driven by Edwin Matos. Investigators accessed the vehicle’s data recorder and discovered Matos had been travelling 114 mph in a residential area moments before impact. He was convicted on two counts of manslaughter, but his lawyer appealed the admission of the data recorder evidence, arguing it may have malfunctioned because the car had been extensively modified. May 26, 2011 Copyright © 2011 Daily Mail
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