Nissan Installed "Black Box"?

[kmil123]

Many, if not most, manufactures now put a black box in cars the purpose of which is to "monitor" the driver: speed, braking times, etc. etc. These are usually installed inside the car somewhere (unannounced of course) under the dash. If anyone has any info (I'll take fact, fiction or rumor) on the possiblity of "black boxes" in the Versa please share your info with us!

[Jrscherer]

Of what I thought I heard is that this did not get passed and they cannot install them without telling people about it.

[XterraVersa]

Such a black box controls the vehicle safety systems. The recording part is what you should be concerned with. Big brother is watching you in the name of safety.

The part that worries me is that such a system can be called in to court so your insurance company won't have to pay out. They can't force your spouse to testify, but they can make little black box that you own testify against you.

[cireecnop1]

I thought these boxes were in stalled in all cars that were equipt with at least a driver airbag, at the least i thought i monitored the speed of the vehicle and stored it in the event of deployment. ?

[marleyfan]

The primary reason for these is accident investigation. The results of black box types of recorders have led directly to safety improvements that make our little Versa the safest compact car on the road. "Big Brother" is hardly watching. If the black box contains information that your driving should negate your insurance coverage once you're involved in an accident serious enough to deploy the airbags, then too bad for you. Perhaps you should drive safer rather than worry about the black box telling on you.

[BenzTech Gone Versa]

Its Not A Black Box...LOLIt's Actually The SRS Module.It Shows The Actual Values Of The System At All Times.Also Shows All Values When Airbags were Deployed.Some Manufacturers Have Simple Sytems And Most Hold Many Values.Example Is If You Had The Seat Belt On Or If You Had A passenger...ETC.Hopefuly The Passenger Seat Recognition Sensor Works...j/k.

[markvalpreda]

What I have heard about these black boxes is that they are integrated in with the SRS systems and they only hold 5-10 seconds of data that is constantly being overwritten. It will stop being overwritten once a certain event triggers it not to (airbag deploy) and even then it will only have that 5-10 seconds of data.

[versula]

The primary reason for these is accident investigation. The results of black box types of recorders have led directly to safety improvements that make our little Versa the safest compact car on the road. "Big Brother" is hardly watching. If the black box contains information that your driving should negate your insurance coverage once you're involved in an accident serious enough to deploy the airbags, then too bad for you. Perhaps you should drive safer rather than worry about the black box telling on you.

I have to agree here. I sometimes wonder if ANYONE is watching because there are many reckless drivers on any given stretch of the freeways where I live 24/7/365. Insurance companies have every right to know if you were going 90+ in a 55 zone and whether they should be obligated to pay the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars that you just caused with careless actions.

[proxim2020]

I was watching a report on CNBC last night on Big Brother technology and the black boxes in cars came up. Markvalpreda is correct with the amount of data that they hold. The insurance companies want them to hold more information. This way, they will be able to plug into your black box to see how you drive and give insurance rates based on the information.

[motoguy128]

I'd support this. I think frequent hard braking, rapid acceleration, and traveling for extended periods over 85mph, are good indicators of a driver that uses less caution than the average. It however doesn't say if you've pulled out in front of other cars, made wrechless lane changes, or are a tailgater. Although frequency of brake use would indicate tailgating.

I often drive 5-10mph over the speed limit over the last 5 years since college, I've matured and don't tailgate, brake aggressively, or aggressively change lanes.

[cyberdeity]

I'd support this. I think frequent hard braking, rapid acceleration, and traveling for extended periods over 85mph, are good indicators of a driver that uses less caution than the average. It however doesn't say if you've pulled out in front of other cars, made wrechless lane changes, or are a tailgater. Although frequency of brake use would indicate tailgating.

I often drive 5-10mph over the speed limit over the last 5 years since college, I've matured and don't tailgate, brake aggressively, or aggressively change lanes.

I don't think I agree 100% with the part about hard breaking. If someone is tailgating me, I've been known to stop the breaks to give them the hint not to ride my rear. Although I must admit I don't do that in the new Versa cause I'm afraid they might hit me. LOL I wouldn't have minded if they had hit the old car, but not the new one :-)

Besides, what if you live in those areas where Deer frequently run out in front of you on the side roads? (My parents see them every evening they're driving in WV) I wouldn't want the insurance company to think they're a bad driver just because they have to hit the breaks more often than someone else. Frequency of brake use not not necessarily dictate bad driving habits.

I think the insurance companies already have a good measure of your driving habits: 1) tickets 2) accident reports/claims. If you have any of either, they usually punish you with increased premiums. What if I happen to be someone who frequently drives fast, breaks hard, but has never had a speeding ticket or accident? Do you really think that's fair to charge me *more* for my insurance that I've never had to actually use to pay for an accident? I think not.

We all have witnessed what we would consider bad divers, but I do not feel the information gathered by one of these devices would be a fair estimate of someone's driving abilities in all instances. And since it can't be 100%, it shouldn't be a metric used for insurance rates. Let them stick with what they already have.

[gottafly]

I remembered hearing about a case several years ago where a guy was convicted by the data in his black box. I looked it up and here is a short excerpt from the story about this on the CBC's Marketplace program from 2003:

"But, in what's being called a groundbreaking case in Montreal last year, Eric Gauthier was convicted of dangerous driving causing death. His car struck and killed 19-year-old Yacine Zinet. There were no witnesses to the accident except the black box in Gauthier’s 2001 Sunfire. Police got the data and it showed Gauthier was doing more than 150 kph in a 50 zone - and that he never hit the brakes. " - he got 18 months in jail.

I've got no problem with police and prosecutors using all available info to sanction this type of asinine behaviour.

The data can also save your butt too - if the witnesses are unreliable. There was another example of it being used in another case that occurred in 2004 I believe - I got this excerpt from another article about EDRs/black boxes printed in Jul 05:

"In another recent traffic incident, a car in busy traffic on Highway 400 between Toronto and Barrie, Ontario, was involved in a chain-reaction crash that took the life of a child. Witnesses stated the driver was reckless and had triggered the tragedy. Yet the driver was cleared of all charges when his vehicles tiny, silent witness showed that he was, in fact, driving properly and within the speed limit. "

I'm a family guy now and for sure that's really slowed down my driving and lowered my tolerance for people assing about on the roads they share with me.

[marleyfan]

It's all a moot point anyway since the insurance companies are NOT using this information to set rates and I doubt they ever will. The black box info is used during accident post mortems only. And if you've already been in the accident then I fully support the use of black boxes to determine culpability.