 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Mercedes-Benz Cars / January 2006Black boxes in automobiles
There was a piece on the evening news yesterday about black boxes in automobiles which record everything you do with the car and everything the car does by itself. They have been used to convict people following accidents. But when one family wanted the data as evidence to sue the car maker, the company refused to give out the information. A court ruled that the black box and the data it contained belonged to the car owner and not the car maker and ordered it turned over to the owner. At issue in this case was a possibly defective airbag that caused great injury to a passenger in the car. My old car does not have a black box. If I buy a new car I don't want it to have a black box. I don't want my car telling tales on me. Can you disable or remove these things? > There was a piece on the evening news yesterday about black boxes in > automobiles which record everything you do with the car and everything [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > to have a black box. I don't want my car telling tales on me. Can you > disable or remove these things? There are possibly two "black boxes" in your new car. The "black box #1" is the computer that runs the engine. They just added some memory circuits so it could remember the data it was already collecting. Black box #2 is called Onstar and tracks your car's location with GPS and is capable of reporting that information via cell phone technology. The Onstar folks can even send a command to unlock your doors if you lock your keys in the car. Funny thing about black boxes is that they could convict you if you did something wrong but they could also save you if someone else did something wrong and lied and blamed you. With the black boxes it wouldn't be just your word against his. The case I read in the news was a about a truck driver who backed into a car and then lied and tried to claim that car rear ended him. The black box proved that the truck driver was indeed in reverse gear at the time of the accident and was not rear ended by the car as he claimed. In America's current shabby liberal justice system I'm sure that the truck driver was punished for backing into the car but received absolutely no additional punishment for lying about it later. > There are possibly two "black boxes" in your new car. > > The "black box #1" is the computer that runs the engine. They just > added some memory circuits so it could remember the data it was already > collecting. This unit collects all sorts of information about the car. It's what turns on your "check engine" light when something is wrong, and what the local DMV probably scans for your emmisions test. Remove it and your car becomes a lump of scrap metal and plastic. > Black box #2 is called Onstar and tracks your car's location with GPS > and is capable of reporting that information via cell phone technology. > The Onstar folks can even send a command to unlock your doors if you > lock your keys in the car. Not really a black box, more like a cell phone + GPS. Not real familiar with this, but I doubt it actually records info. It functions more like an aircraft ELT sending out a signal when there is trouble. > Funny thing about black boxes is that they could convict you if you did > something wrong but they could also save you if someone else did > something wrong and lied and blamed you. With the black boxes it > wouldn't be just your word against his. Quite true. This court ruling sounds wise: the data in the box belongs to the vehicle owner, and any one else who wants it (cops, lawsuit) needs a subpoena to get it.  SignatureBob Kaplow NAR # 18L >>> To reply, there's no internet on Mars (yet)! <<< Kaplow Klips & Baffle: http://nira-rocketry.org/Document/MayJun00.pdf www.encompasserve.org/~kaplow_r/ www.nira-rocketry.org www.nar.org "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, except to encourage attendance in Christian churches; or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, except to require prayer in schools; or abridging the freedom of speech, except for those questioning the Bush administration; or of the press, except that not owned by Rupert Murdoch; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, except those protesting pre-emptive wars; and to petition the government for a redress of grievance, except those we don't like." -former U.S. Sen. Gary Hart Why don't you take your political hyperbol where others appreciate it. This is an MB newsgroup dedicated to serious questions and answers regarding same. We're really not interested in your political views. >> There are possibly two "black boxes" in your new car. >> [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > the vehicle owner, and any one else who wants it (cops, lawsuit) needs a > subpoena to get it. This is a Type III anonymous message, sent to you by the Mixminion server at straylight.snikt.net. If you do not want to receive anonymous messages, please contact ADMIN. For more information about anonymity, see URL. -----BEGIN TYPE III ANONYMOUS MESSAGE----- Message-type: plaintext >> There was a piece on the evening news yesterday about black boxes in >> automobiles which record everything you do with the car and everything [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > The Onstar folks can even send a command to unlock your doors if you >lock your keys in the car. What I would like to have is a means of a: disabling Onstar completely and permanently. b: permanently disabling all "Event Data Recorder" devices and functions without making the car un-driveable. -----END TYPE III ANONYMOUS MESSAGE----- The only "Event Data Recorder" device that I know of is the SRS crash sensor. It records what was happening at the time of a crash and you have air bag deployment. Other than that, nothing gets recorded. Can't tell you if LoJack does any recording. > This is a Type III anonymous message, sent to you by the Mixminion > server at straylight.snikt.net. If you do not want to receive [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > > -----END TYPE III ANONYMOUS MESSAGE----- >This is a Type III anonymous message, sent to you by the Mixminion >server at straylight.snikt.net. If you do not want to receive [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] >b: permanently disabling all "Event Data Recorder" devices and functions > without making the car un-driveable. Exactly. Now, can someone tell us how to do that? >>What I would like to have is a means of >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> > Exactly. Now, can someone tell us how to do that? In the back of your owners manual there is info on how to order a service manual. The info you seek would be there for you to figure out whether you can, or not. I would think that they would make it integral to thew autos functioning, but it is pure speculation on my part. Signature"Audacity, always, audacity" "Useless eaters" A government, of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. You can fool most of the people, most of the time. >There was a piece on the evening news yesterday about black boxes in >automobiles which record everything you do with the car and everything [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >to have a black box. I don't want my car telling tales on me. Can you >disable or remove these things? Visit http://www.harristechnical.com/ for uses of data recorders. Not so good IMHO. Visit http://www.harristechnical.com/downloads/cdrlist.pdf That lists all vehicles with data recorders built in. I purchased my last new car because it didn't have a "black box". Unfortunately, I have never heard of a way to disable them. Regards all, TwistyCreek Admin > Visit http://www.harristechnical.com/ for uses of data recorders. Not so > good IMHO. > > Visit http://www.harristechnical.com/downloads/cdrlist.pdf Wow... nice links. Thanks dude. :) >> Visit http://www.harristechnical.com/ for uses of data recorders. Not so >> good IMHO. >> >> Visit http://www.harristechnical.com/downloads/cdrlist.pdf > >Wow... nice links. Thanks dude. :) No problems. I hate the damn things. Regards All TwistyCreek Admin BTW, privacy is why I run this re-mailer. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.