Don't recall where I read it, but some manufacturers are placing black boxes unbeknownst to buyers in their vehicles. Is this some little known federal requirement? This info can prove or disprove culpability in an accident theoretically; though privacy issues are involved. Are they in the 'S'? Starting which MY? Would you want one in your car? If it is there, would you take it out if you could?

 

No it is not there, no I would not want one

 

These are in GM vehicles.

Still, the SRS controller maight retain some information for crash statistics gathering - after a crash.

My S2000 has a "black box". Its a device hooked up to the OBDII prt that takes a snapshot of the car's operation every five seconds. It keeps roughly the last 3 months of driving data stored at all times.

This is for several purposes:
1. Countering abuse claims for warranty work
2. Keeping tabs on those rare instances where I must let someone else handle the car
3. Countering local police during their revenue generation events.
4. Evidence in case of an accident.

Because I know this device exists and no one else, I can use it in the manner in which I choose.

Here's some reading on black boxes:

http://www.expertlaw.com/library/accidents...lack_boxes.html

http://www.schwebel.com/RunScript.asp?page...SP%5C~Pg421.asp

 

Great reply and very pre-emptive reasons for having one...did this come out of a bad experience? How much did this device cost to buy / install? Will it hold up in court as evidence if it was Owner installed? Appreciate the links.

 

Sounds like a great idea! but I think it will probably turned into evidence against me...

 

The device is the Carchip E/X.

There's no real reason that prompted me to get it except at the time (2 years ago) there were many posts on s2ki about problems with warranty service and abuse claims by the dealer. For about $120, I got a device that operates like an OBDII scanner (pulls and clears trouble codes), monitors the car's engine vitals, takes the previously mentioned snapshots, and has a high resolution 30 second "event" recorder. Said recorder takes 1 second snapshots for 30 seconds whenever panic braking is detected.

Several people on this board have them.

One person here used them in arbitration for a declined warranty issue and the arbitrator ignored the recorded results.

As for admissible evidence: the device will not allow tampering - that is it logs when it is connected and disconnected as well as the time and date for all the snapshots. I guess it would matter on your attorney's skill and the court.

I would think (though I am not an attorney) that anything that would shed light on the events that landed you into court would at least be considered before being accepted or thrown out.

Here's a user review of the Carchip with some data graphs:

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=118906