Gizmo wrote:
If you drive a Ford you are already screwed. The engine management system records 20 seconds of data on a loop, it stops when the airbag goes off. It is not "advertised" because it is designed to prevent litigation in the event a customer tries to sue the company after a crash. Not a feature they would wish to advertise. Basicaly if you crash in a Mondeo make sure the engine management system is totaly screwed.
Not here. That's true of most or all current model Fords in the US and presumably Canada as well, and it's also true of General Motors. It's not advertised there, but it's fairly well known so it's not like they're trying to hide it. I mailed Ford UK last year to ask if these EDR (Event Data Recorder) boxes were also fitted to UK Fords, and they said no they're not and there are no plans to do so anywhere in Europe at present. Vauxhall didn't reply.
AIUI there is still some debate going on in the US over the use of EDRs. The big question is who actually owns the data, and therefore who has a right to it. The argument goes that if you buy a car then you own all the components that are part of it, including the EDR if fitted and therefore any data it produces. Every now and then I have a look on the site where I first came across this (Tech Central Station) to see if there's any fresh mention of EDRs being used in a court. So far nothing, so I'd guess it's never been tested.
Still, as scary as the idea of EDRs in our cars is there is the possibility of a benefit to the owner. The data from an EDR after a crash could well be used to exhonerate a driver who had been driving correctly. Quite often when two parties are pointing fingers at each other the insurers don't bother to investigate and simply call it 50:50. A bit unfair if the reality was that one driver was 99% responsible, and I imagine innocent drivers could use EDR data in the future to prove this. It might also be used by the police to prove, say, dangerous driving where at present they might only be able to prove a lesser charge, or nothing at all.
On balance I'm okay with the idea of my car having an EDR one day, provided that some strict rules are applied to the use and accessibility of any data it produces. First off it should be clear that the data belongs to me and should not be accessible by anyone else except the police, and then only if the vehicle is involved in a collision. In that case I feel it should be treated like making a statement to the police - obtained under caution and the driver has the right to refuse access, with the possibility of a court deciding whether the driver has something to hide later on. Secondly, the EDR must be designed in such a way that it cannot give any data to anyone except in after a collision. For the same reason that I'm anti ID cards I don't want anything in my car that allows TPTB to snoop on me, especially if I've bought the bloody thing. Under those conditions I'd be quite happy to have one.
Oh, and as saga_lout said, EDRs could prove once and for all that speeding rarely causes a crash and that normally something else was to blame. I think the speed killes mob have more o fear from these things than we have.