I was reading my local paper and came across the headline that read, “black boxes” are urged for automobiles. With all the political sparring in the news this election season, my skeptical mind has been in overdrive. Seeing this headline, I read on to find “The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Tuesday recommended for the first time that the federal government require passenger vehicles to be equipped with ‘black boxes’ that record speed, seat belt use, braking and other factors.” The motivation behind this initiative is that the data could provide investigators with better information when they probe accidents.
The article goes on to say the NTSB made its recommendation during a discussion of its investigation into the July 16, 2003, farmers’ market crash in Santa Monica, CA, in which an elderly driver drove through the outdoor market, killing 10 and injuring 63. Finding the cause of this tragedy is obviously a great concern. Was it driver error or was there a problem with the vehicle? In this situation, and many others, the electronic data recorder may contain the vital answers sought. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the objective of electronic data recording data is to:
Increase the safety of our highway transportation system.
Improve vehicle systems.
Improve highway systems.
Aid in regulatory initiatives.
Aid in alleged defect investigations.
Aid in litigation cases.
Aid law enforcement efforts.
Help gather accurate statistics (i.e. seat belt usage).
Help identify conditions and situations where additional safety devices could be used.
Provide a better understanding of how a driver responds to a crash (pre-crash, not during or after the crash).
While I am all for improvements in safety, point 6 from the list above is the one that worries me. The data will help the lawyers point the finger at who may be to blame for the accident. The black box will indicate if the brakes were applied, and if the turn signals, headlights, tail lights and brake lights were working. It will also tell if the car was going 90 mph as it approached that sharp turn in the road.
But it might not only be the driver who is faulted. Attorneys have a way of spreading the blame. If the black box reveals that some vehicle system was not in proper working order at the time of an accident, i.e. the air bag deployment system was turned off, the ABS brakes malfunctioned or a dirty injector was to blame for a stall in an intersection, litigating attorneys may go after the shop that last performed a service to one of those systems. Or, it’s even possible a shop could get blamed for not inspecting a system that later resulted in an accident.
My guess would be that most of your customers are not aware that their vehicle is likely to have a black box that can record their desire to put the pedal to the metal. The NHTSA estimates that 15% of vehicles on the road now have a black box, and between 65 and 90% of 2004 light vehicles will be equipped with an electronic data recorder. While your customer may not know this, make sure your technicians know that big brother is watching.
Do you think aftermarket repair shops should have access to the data in the black box? Send me your opinions at [email protected].
