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From Associated Press as printed in several of today’s newspapers:
WASHINGTON — Many motorists don't know it, but it's likely that every time they get behind the wheel, there's a snitch along for the ride.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday proposed long-delayed regulations requiring auto manufacturers to include event-data recorders — better known as "black boxes" — in all new cars and light trucks beginning Sept. 1, 2014.
The agency is behind the curve. Automakers have been quietly tucking the devices, which automatically record the actions of drivers and the responses of their vehicles in a continuous information loop, into most new vehicles for years.
When a vehicle is involved in a crash or when its air bags deploy, inputs from the vehicle's sensors during the five to 10 seconds before impact are automatically preserved.
That's usually enough to record things such as how fast the car was traveling and whether the driver applied the brake, was steering erratically or had a seat belt on.
The idea is to gather information that can help investigators determine the causes of accidents and lead to safer vehicles.
But privacy advocates say government regulators and automakers are spreading an intrusive technology without putting in place policies to prevent misuse of the information.
Information collected by the recorders is increasingly showing up in lawsuits, criminal cases and high-profile accidents. Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray initially said he wasn't speeding and was wearing his seat belt when he crashed a government-owned car last year.
But the Ford Crown Victoria's data recorder told a different story: It showed the car was traveling more than 100 mph and Murray wasn't belted in.
In 2007, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine was seriously injured in the crash of an SUV driven by a state trooper. Corzine was a passenger. The SUV's recorder showed the vehicle was traveling 91 mph on a parkway where the speed limit was 65 mph, and Corzine didn't have his seat belt on.
It's extremely difficult for vehicle owners to disable the recorders. Although some models have had recorders since the early 1990s, a federal requirement that automakers disclose their existence in owner's manuals didn't go into effect until three months ago. Automakers that voluntarily put recorders in vehicles are also required to gather a minimum of 15 types of data.
Besides the proposal to put recorders in all new vehicles, the traffic-safety administration is also considering expanding the data requirement to include up to 30 additional types of data, such as whether the vehicle's electronic-stability control was engaged. Engineers have identified more than 80 data points that might be useful.
Privacy complaints have gone unheeded.
"Right now we're in an environment where there are no rules, there are no limits, there are no consequences and there is no transparency," said Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a privacy-advocacy group.
"Most people who are operating a motor vehicle have no idea this technology is integrated into their vehicle."
Part of the concern is that the increasing computerization of cars and the growing communications to and from vehicles using GPS navigation and General Motors' OnStar system could lead to unintended uses of recorder data.
"Basically your car is a computer now, so it can record all kinds of information," said Gloria Bergquist, vice president of the Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers. The alliance opposes the government requiring recorders in all vehicles.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that requiring recorders in all new cars and light trucks "will give us the critical insight and information we need to save more lives."
WASHINGTON — Many motorists don't know it, but it's likely that every time they get behind the wheel, there's a snitch along for the ride.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday proposed long-delayed regulations requiring auto manufacturers to include event-data recorders — better known as "black boxes" — in all new cars and light trucks beginning Sept. 1, 2014.
The agency is behind the curve. Automakers have been quietly tucking the devices, which automatically record the actions of drivers and the responses of their vehicles in a continuous information loop, into most new vehicles for years.
When a vehicle is involved in a crash or when its air bags deploy, inputs from the vehicle's sensors during the five to 10 seconds before impact are automatically preserved.
That's usually enough to record things such as how fast the car was traveling and whether the driver applied the brake, was steering erratically or had a seat belt on.
The idea is to gather information that can help investigators determine the causes of accidents and lead to safer vehicles.
But privacy advocates say government regulators and automakers are spreading an intrusive technology without putting in place policies to prevent misuse of the information.
Information collected by the recorders is increasingly showing up in lawsuits, criminal cases and high-profile accidents. Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray initially said he wasn't speeding and was wearing his seat belt when he crashed a government-owned car last year.
But the Ford Crown Victoria's data recorder told a different story: It showed the car was traveling more than 100 mph and Murray wasn't belted in.
In 2007, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine was seriously injured in the crash of an SUV driven by a state trooper. Corzine was a passenger. The SUV's recorder showed the vehicle was traveling 91 mph on a parkway where the speed limit was 65 mph, and Corzine didn't have his seat belt on.
It's extremely difficult for vehicle owners to disable the recorders. Although some models have had recorders since the early 1990s, a federal requirement that automakers disclose their existence in owner's manuals didn't go into effect until three months ago. Automakers that voluntarily put recorders in vehicles are also required to gather a minimum of 15 types of data.
Besides the proposal to put recorders in all new vehicles, the traffic-safety administration is also considering expanding the data requirement to include up to 30 additional types of data, such as whether the vehicle's electronic-stability control was engaged. Engineers have identified more than 80 data points that might be useful.
Privacy complaints have gone unheeded.
"Right now we're in an environment where there are no rules, there are no limits, there are no consequences and there is no transparency," said Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a privacy-advocacy group.
"Most people who are operating a motor vehicle have no idea this technology is integrated into their vehicle."
Part of the concern is that the increasing computerization of cars and the growing communications to and from vehicles using GPS navigation and General Motors' OnStar system could lead to unintended uses of recorder data.
"Basically your car is a computer now, so it can record all kinds of information," said Gloria Bergquist, vice president of the Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers. The alliance opposes the government requiring recorders in all vehicles.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that requiring recorders in all new cars and light trucks "will give us the critical insight and information we need to save more lives."
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