Advocacy & Safety - Automobile Black Box Convicts Driver

http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=6a58a759-3fb5-4862-bbc0-39238d048874

Dangerous driving??? If I read that correct, it was murder IMO

When did black boxes get put on cars?
Did he know the other driver? This doesn't sound like an accident?
Joe

When did black boxes get put on cars?

My wife's 1996 Saturn has a black box in it as does my 1998 Jeep. I'm not sure when they were first introduced though. Actually, the Saturn has a feature by which you can manually snapshot the blackbox to a secondary NVRAM. The idea being that should you encounter some intermittent weirdness, you can capture the data from the onboard sensors so that the mechanics can later analyse it if they can't reproduce it.

If I understand correctly, the black boxes which are now in some cars keep the records for the five seconds before the air bag is deployed. Unless the airbag is deployed, the black box just keeps recording new data.

Given that a car can kill a pedestrian or a cyclist easily without enough of a shock to the car to inflate the airbag, I doubt this will help cyclists and pedestrians at all.

If I understand correctly, the black boxes which are now in some cars keep the records for the five seconds before the air bag is deployed. Unless the airbag is deployed, the black box just keeps recording new data.

Given that a car can kill a pedestrian or a cyclist easily without enough of a shock to the car to inflate the airbag, I doubt this will help cyclists and pedestrians at all.

It does if that cyclist happens to be in a car that day. You can't discount technology just because it doesn't benefit you in that specific situation.
There isn't a set standard as to how information is recorded but in general:
Airbag deployment permenantly writes the information to memory if a collision is so severe. Otherwise, the data is kept for about 6 weeks and will be erased afterwards. No air bag deployment is necessary to trigger the system.
Hell I can rig up a cheap $5 strain gage rosette that'll trigger if you run into pedestrian in such a way that the accelerometers and gyro's don't catch it but your bumper/hood/windshield dents.

You don't have to wait till a plane plunges out of the sky to retrieve flight data.

I'm pretty sure any biker who's ever been assulted by a vehicle would appreciate a statement in court saying, "black box data showed that the vehicle was accelerating at 3/4ths throttle up to 45mph when the driver quickly turned the steering wheel to the right, 5 milliseconds later, sensors recorded a minor impact on the right side of the vehicle triggering sensors on the hood and right fender."

Without further support of the technology, that will NEVER happen.

I'm pretty sure any biker who's ever been assulted by a vehicle would appreciate a statement in court saying, "black box data showed that the vehicle was accelerating at 3/4ths throttle up to 45mph when the driver quickly turned the steering wheel to the right, 5 milliseconds later, sensors recorded a minor impact on the right side of the vehicle triggering sensors on the hood and right fender."

Without further support of the technology, that will NEVER happen.

Combine that and my idea for an integrated camera-helmet (http://journals.neebu.net/khuon/archives/000202.html) and cyclists could have a great tool in court for the random "traffic incident".

Otherwise, the data is kept for about 6 weeks and will be erased afterwords.
Slvoid,

It's great to hear from someone who actually knows what they are talking about. I was going based on a magazine article I read somewhere.

So, if I were hit by a car, does this mean that I should be able to ask a judge to get the records of what the car involved was doing at that moment? The car would remember even if it was not immediate? Hard to imagine how this would work if there was no marker in the record of the event.

Thanks

I believe I have heard that there are 'motorists' rights' groups seeking to make automobile black box data inadmissible in court proceedings involving crashes. I'm not sure whether the manufacturers are supporting these groups or not, although I also believe I heard that the manufacturers' position has been that the intent of the black box is not to allow reconstruction of crash data (although it certainly can be used in this way), but rather to be able to analyze faults and defects in the vehicle for servicing and warranty purposes, and also to determine in warranty claim cases whether or not the vehicle has been operated in such a way as to void the warranty (e.g. excessive engine rpms).

He was going at 157 km/h in a 50km/h zone. He wasn't 10 or even 20 km/h over the limit. I call that murder too.

The most amazing thing is that he was able to get a Pontiac Sunfire up to 157 km/h.

Slvoid,

It's great to hear from someone who actually knows what they are talking about. I was going based on a magazine article I read somewhere.

So, if I were hit by a car, does this mean that I should be able to ask a judge to get the records of what the car involved was doing at that moment? The car would remember even if it was not immediate? Hard to imagine how this would work if there was no marker in the record of the event.

Thanks

I'm sorry if I can't provide the specifics since I'm explicitly involved in law or the automobile industry but if it's strong enough to trigger the system it will remember. It's not actually number of weeks but rather restarts, so I suppose the driver can sit there and restart their car 200+ times they can clear it. I've never hit anyone in a car doing 40 before so I don't know the delta V involved to trigger it but I would imagine it'll leave one hell of a huge marker on my car.
I'm also not sure if you can request the data in court but it can be used under the Frye rule.

The most amazing thing is that he was able to get a Pontiac Sunfire up to 157 km/h.

I noticed in Quebec, almost 4 out of 5 cars were all sunfires. You wouldn't happen to know why? Its been bugging me.

No question it was murder. However, what I want to know is why the licence was suspended for only three years. Surely this is sufficient grounds for a permanent cancellation.

Sadly, people get done for driving at those speeds (and greater) around here every other week. :(

If I understand correctly, the black boxes which are now in some cars keep the records for the five seconds before the air bag is deployed. Unless the airbag is deployed, the black box just keeps recording new data.

Given that a car can kill a pedestrian or a cyclist easily without enough of a shock to the car to inflate the airbag, I doubt this will help cyclists and pedestrians at all.

I was recently in an accident where i was hit by a Toyota Avalon, the airbag did not deploy. I was struck by the front, right corner and went up onto the windshield. There might be a black box, but that wouldn't have saved me whether the air bag deploys is inconsiquential due to the fact that neither device can improve people's eyesight or their driving skills, or just simply slow the speed of the car itself.

I'm more interested in ways that we can further the public's view of cycling as an alternative mean of transportation. I am scared by the report of the man who drove so wrecklessly and want to know what can be done to eliminate that situation. happy riding and keep the rubber side down.

The recording device, which stores data on how a car is driven in the last five seconds before a collision, showed four seconds before impact, Gauthier had the gas pedal to the floor. He didn't brake before impact.
As I see it that's at least manslaughter. :mad:

As I see it that's at least manslaughter. :mad:

it said he had done this before. 18 months is not enough.