Speeding down the New Jersey Turnpike last month, I asked my husband if he thought states would start issuing speeding tickets by mail. ‘You were clocked at 85-mph in a 65-mph zone. Here is your ticket.’
Remembering he’d received a ticket in the mail for running a red light in New York City more than ten years ago – complete with photos of his vehicle in the middle of an intersection as the light turned red and his rear license plate – he said that is likely coming.
Starting in July, all new cars sold in the EU will be equipped with a “black box” which will record location data, speed and, according to Reclaim the Net, “braking, steering wheel angle, its incline on the road, and whether the vehicle’s various safety systems were in operation, starting with seatbelts.”
Reclaim the Net also reports that “the new system will coincide with the introduction of Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) systems, which will warn drivers when they breach the speed limit. However, the ISA systems should not prevent the driver from actually breaking the speed limit.” The powers that be estimate this will save 100,000 injuries and 25,000 lives each year.
Additionally, Summit News reports that data from these devices will be available to law enforcement, but not to insurance companies. “Authorities claim the data will be ‘anonymized,’ meaning the information can’t be used to identify the owner of the vehicle, although only the incredibly naive would plausibly believe that.”
This comes as no surprise as this has been planned for several years.
Last summer, The Times (UK) reported on a petition originated by the Drivers’ Defense League and signed by 250,000 people, which warned: “This measure opens the way to permanent monitoring of drivers and an explosion of fines and license points.” This was not hyperbole.
Is this invasive technology coming to the U.S.?
According to AAA, your car may already have one. “Ninety-five percent of new vehicles have an onboard Event Data Recorder (EDR) that captures and stores vehicle data for several seconds before, during and after any crash where an airbag is triggered or there is an excessive rate of vehicle deceleration.”
However, AAA reports that current auto EDRs collect far less information than the black box of an airplane:
Compared to their airplane counterparts, EDRs have limited capabilities. The latest digital flight data recorders capture more than 700 pieces of information and the plane’s position, while the companion cockpit voice recorder stores the last two hours of flight crew communications. EDRs, on the other hand, generally gather data for a minimum of 15 parameters, including speed, acceleration and braking, and do not record vehicle location or audio data.
AAA explains:
EDRs first appeared in vehicles in the mid-1970s as a way for automakers to monitor airbag performance and aid in making modifications to improve their effectiveness. Since then automakers, researchers and law enforcement have used EDRs for a variety of purposes, including crash reconstruction.
Following a collision, drivers may not recall all of the events, but information gleaned from the EDR can provide a reliable snapshot of what the vehicle and driver were doing just before and after a crash. Information from the EDR is then used in conjunction with other crash analysis techniques to provide investigators with a full picture of what happened.
So, how do you know if your car is equipped with an EDR? Their appearance and locations vary widely in vehicles, so it’s important to consult your owner’s manual. Federal law requires that all cars built after Sept. 1, 2012 include a notice in the owner’s manual if a vehicle has an EDR. The manuals for cars built before that date may or may not contain a notice.
Forbes reports that black boxes are already being used in the U.S. on a voluntary basis. For example, auto insurance premiums for new drivers are typically extremely high. They may be able to reduce their premiums by allowing their insurance company to place one of these devices in their car.
The future is here.
Follow AFNN
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/afnnusa
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/2_-GAz…
Twitter: @AFNNUSA
GETTR: @AFNN_USA
CloutHub: @AFNN_USA
Patriot.Online: @AFNN
Please follow me on Twitter.