The feds want black boxes in your cars too

According to a report from Wired, federal officials will be announcing next month that black boxes will be mandatory in all cars. Yes, the very same black boxes used by investigators to recreate the last few moments of a plane before it crashes will be a feature of our cars in the near future. The reason for the usage of black boxes? To eliminate the uncertainty of human witnesses in the reporting of an accident.

Humans by nature are biased, and when someone is in the wrong but doesn’t want to admit it will obviously skew the truth to paint themselves in a better light. However, this obviously isn’t fair when it comes to making reports or insurance claims, hence the necessary intervention of black boxes. And obviously sometimes when there are no witnesses or survivors, black boxes can be used to give the details to what happened.

The finer specifics of the new ruling hasn’t been mentioned yet i.e. how the feds are going to outfit every car with a black box, and if it will be paid for by the authorities etc. I guess we’ll have to wait until next month and see. What do you think of having a black box in your car? Will it help you drive better since you know every move is being recorded?

George Wong
Categories: Transportation
Tags: accident, car