On 4/24/2011 11:53 AM, Nancy Young wrote:
> dsi1 wrote:
>> On Apr 24, 3:45 am, "Nancy Young" > wrote:
>
>>> I know they started putting black boxes into cars, I imagine they
>>> all have them at this point. I guess.
>
>> Modern cars have computer controllers in place to keep emissions under
>> control and to have the desired mix of performance and fuel
>> efficiency. In order to do this, it keeps tab on engine conditions and
>> vehicle speed. They're not black boxes in the sense of being a
>> fortified data gathering device. They are actually the heart of the
>> emission control system.
>>
>> As far as I know the boxes are proprietary systems belonging to the
>> manufacturer and any data that may remain in the computers after a
>> crash is not available to outside agencies.
>
> FWIW, a quick google came up with this:
>
> http://preview.tinyurl.com/64ukdlc
> It touches on the subject.
>
> nancy

Thanks for the link. It was interesting. I would consider it to be the
air bag controller rather than a black box. If it's commonly used in
accident investigation, then you probably could consider it to be a
"black box."

My guess is that there are black box data recorders in many commercial
and public transportation vehicles and I think it's possible that we'll
be driving in cars in the future that have federally mandated recorders
that will track our every move. The insurance companies will probably be
pushing for this technology.