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The European Commission is to launch Project
Veronica, which would lead to cars being fitted with
aircraft-style black boxes.
The £2.4m scheme is aimed at making it easier for
insurance companies to determine who was at fault in the
event of an
car accident, and it will also help the
police in taking possible action against a driver.
The black box, which is known as an Event Data
Recorder (EDR), would monitor 20 different types of data
including speed at the time the
road accident occurred,
the speed when the brakes were applied, how the driver
applied the brakes and other functions of the car at the
time of the accident.
Researchers believe the technology will improve
safety. The study has found that drivers with black
boxes were 10% less likely to be involved in a fatal
road accident, and their repair bills fell by as much as
25%.
If fitted to a car the device is triggered by a
sudden change to the car's speed. In the event of this
happening it records the events 30 seconds before a
crash and 15 seconds afterwards, with the information
being downloaded by the police or at special workshops.
Black boxes are already installed in a number of
vehicles, including 3,500 Metropolitan Police cars.
The boxes, which cost about £500, are little bigger
than a pack of cards and are fitted behind the dashboard
or under the floor. They are connected to sensors that
monitor the car’s movements.
However, the proposals may be condemned by civil
liberties groups, concerned over the possible growth of
the surveillance state. The concerns are likely to be
that in the future the system could be combined with
other technology to keep a constant eye on a motorists'
every movement.
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