Automotive 'black boxes' raise privacy issues
— -- NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- If you're involved in a traffic accident with no witnesses except you and the other driver, it's just your word against his, right?
Wrong.
Your own car just might tattle on you if you're at fault.
So-called event data recorders that function much like the "black boxes" on airplanes, and which are now installed on virtually all new vehicles, can give investigators incriminating details about your driving behavior in the final seconds before a crash.
Some motorists -- fearful of what they see as an invasion of privacy -- aren't too happy about that.
"I didn't think my '98 Saturn was new enough to have the data recorder, but apparently it does, and I think it should be up to me to decide how and when I share that information with someone else," said Bob McClellan Jr., 35, of Antioch.
"If I were given the opportunity to agree to have this on the vehicle when I buy it, then that probably would be OK," McClellan said. "But if I own the car, it's my business what's on the recorder, and no one should be able to access it unless I say so."
Details that can be scrutinized include how fast the vehicle was going, as well as whether the brakes or accelerator were being pressed, which way the car was being steered, and -- yes -- even whether the occupants were wearing their seatbelts. The data is always being recorded, but it's only saved to the device's memory if an air bag deploys, automakers say.
Critics argue that the system is a snoop and unfair to consumers.
"It's in the cars, it can't be turned off, and the information is available to anyone with a court order," said Gary Biller, executive director of the National Motorists Association, a group that advocates on behalf of drivers in instances of unfair traffic enforcement.
"Our members ask whether these devices can be disabled, but they can't, because they are integral to the computer systems that control modern cars," Biller said.
Laws have been implemented in 13 states to limit access to the information in the recorders, but there are no such regulations on the books in Tennessee and many other states to prevent someone from uploading the data without permission.
Getting that data is easier on some vehicles than others, but a Nashville company, VCE Inc., has been at the forefront of using information from the recorders to reconstruct traffic accidents since the introduction of the devices in the mid-1990s.
"We have been involved from the start and were among the first ones to begin downloading the data from these recorders for the accident reconstructions we do for attorneys and insurance companies," VCI Vice President Todd Hutchison said.
"We typically get permission from the owner of the vehicle, but that's not necessarily who owned it at the time of the accident," he pointed out. "If the insurance company has bought the salvaged vehicle, they can give us permission."
Data easy to collect(AT)
Collecting the data is simple. VCE investigators merely connect to the vehicle's diagnostic system using a cord that attaches to a laptop computer, and special software then reads the data, Hutchison said.
Both Metro police and the Tennessee Highway Patrol have the equipment to capture the information after an accident, he said.
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