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2NewsTV
Posted [1]: May 26, 2007

When you hear about "black boxes" you probably picture airplanes that have been in horrible accidents.

The black box is the first thing investigators look for. The boxes record cockpit communications and airplane information, and can often tell investigators what lead to the disaster.

But few people know that black boxes aren't just in airplanes. They're in cars too. And chances are good there's one in your car, but you can't lift the hood to see it.

But if you get in an accident the information could be used against you.

There are hundreds of vehicle collisions every day. Sometimes the cause is obvious, and other times its not. Drivers often get into a blame game and the accident investigators are left to sort out who is at fault.

But your car's black box can help them do just that.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than half of all new cars now carry a so-called black box. The device records how a car was being driven just seconds before impact. The black box, which is really silver, is buried in the car's underbelly and incorporated into the airbag system.

Silent Passenger

Car makers call it an EDR, event data recorder, or a CDR, crash data recorder. They collect crash data to help design safer cars.

But cops and the insurance industry want the black box data too.

That's exactly why the American Civil Liberties Union has a problem with the black box. "It's my information not public information," said Doug Klunder, privacy director of the ACLU's Seattle chapter. He insists a black box amounts to a spy in your car.

You may have the right to remain silent, but your car just might talk.

"That's very true. Wow! You be quiet now, poor thing," said Carol Corley as she stroked the door of her Ford wagon. NHTSA says Ford, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, General Motors, Isuzu, and Suzuki vehicles all have Event Data Recorders.

The black boxes record what happened in the critical seconds before, during and after a crash. They even record near-crashes.

The so called black box is like having a silent passenger that you never but witnesses your every move. In the event of a crash it knows if you were speeding, whether you're wearing a seat belt, and if you hit the brakes.

"I had no idea it was in there," said John LaForest. The Olympia teacher has a black box in his car, but didn't know it, until we told him.

Not one driver I interviewed knew they had a silent witness on board. Some cars have had them since the late 90s, but the devices didn't become prevalent until until 2001.

To get the black box talking, investigators just have to download the data. They can do that right at the scene of a crash.

"There is more and more of this hidden data collection that people don't know about which is even scarier than Big Brother," says Klunder.

State Patrol Detective Sgt. Jerry Cooper said troopers use the information as part of their investigations. "We're gathering the data as the result of a crash, we're not gathering it to see what people's driving habits are on the highway," he said.

Legal Questions

One of the first things Cooper does at a crash scene is salvage the black box. No questions asked.

Klunder doesn't like that policy. "At a minimum they should be required to have probable cause and get a warrant," he said.

Asked what gives him the authority to download data from the black box at a crash site, Cooper said "It's collecting evidence at the scene, similar to skid marks and other data."

Investigators say they have every right to take the black box unless the car's been moved from the crash scene and the owner won't give permission. They say most times the box is only used to validate what they already know.

"The CDR is not stand alone evidence," Cooper said, adding that it's just another tool in the tool box. "It's a validation tool."

On Valentine's Day 2006, Trooper Tim Hanson nearly died in a head on collision on State Route 18. The driver of the other vehicle was killed.

The reconstruction proved it wasn't Hanson's fault, and the black box data confirmed it. "It validated that our investigation was done correctly," said Cooper.

Klunder said the important thing is whether the vehicle's owner is involved in the decision to use the data. "It depends on whether the owner has a choice in advance," he said.

Black box data can also help speed up investigations for auto insurers and identify fraudulent claims. According to the Northwest Insurance Council, auto insurers use black box data in Washington state in less than one percent of their investigations. And they say they always ask the driver's if it's okay.

But, nothing is stopping those insurers in our state from bypassing permission and getting court orders to obtain the black box data.

What can you do about it? The ACLU says that's not clear, as black boxes are in a kind of a legal vacuum in our state. Washington has no laws on the books regarding the data recorders.

But Jim Harris, owner of Harris Technical Services, a traffic reconstruction business based in Florida, says that when it comes to auto insurers keep this in mind: "If you total your car and your auto insurer pays you what it's worth in exchange for the vehicle -- your insurer now holds the title of that car and the black box is their property."

And there's nothing stopping insurers from using it against you. "It's their property!" says Harris.

His web site lists about 50 court cases nationwide involving black boxes. And the judgements go both ways, for and against the defendants.

The site also list all the states that have black box laws. But Harris says even without a black box law in Washington, a lot of drivers may be protected and don't know it.

"Some 38 state have Computer Trespass Laws, and most people aren't even aware of it." He says those computer laws protect internal program devices that process data. "That sounds like a black box to me," laughs Harris.

If you want to know if your car has a black box just check your owner's manual, where it will list the device. Car makers list it voluntarily.

The NHSTA says starting in 2011, owner notification will become a requirement.