It's looking very likely that a bill in Congress that will make mandatory the use of "black boxes"— more formally, Event Data Recorders (EDR) — will become law soon. These are little computers clad in rugged casings that record data from your car's various sensors and computers to use for accident investigation and, very …
Investigators Find No New Defects, Enlist NASA Help In Toyota Probe
Data from black boxes in 58 Toyotas involved in sudden acceleration cases shows no evidence of any other defects beyond sticky pedals and chunky floormats, according to a report U.S. regulators gave Congress today. But you already knew that
Honda Black Box Will Put Scummy Insurance Scammers on Notice
Honda's Drive Recorder is the solution to he-said/she-said arguments involving car crashes. The Drive Recorder is essentially a souped-up black box. It includes a camera that records video and audio for 12 seconds prior to a crash and eight seconds after. Also included is a box that records other important data and…
Black Box Bogey: NHTSA Says Carmakers Must Tell Buyers They're Being…
The Feds have spoken: No exposure without disclosure. This week, the NHTSA gave automakers a green light to put black-box data recorders aboard new vehicles, but from 2011 onward they must inform car buyers if a model carries such a box. (Currently, 60% of new cars have them.) That'll give regulators and manufacturers …
More on Progressive's Elective "Black Boxes" for Usage-Based Insurance
As we once reported
When Big Brother Is in the Mirror: Car Chip E/X
On his Cool Tools blog, Kevin Kelly profiles the Car Chip E/X, a nifty device that allows drivers to download precious info from a car's electronic pancreas brain. The chip plugs into a car's interior OBDII interface and can record up to 300 hours of driving data, making it a kind of e-spy you can use to rat on…
In America, Car Watches You: Lexus and MCI Team up to Monitor Drivers
Toyota announced it was including two driver-monitoring technologies, developed with telecom giant MCI, in its 2007 Lexus GS 450h
