Posted on 10/09/2005 5:04:56 PM PDT by Ben Mugged
In what is becoming a familiar scene in courtrooms nationwide, information collected from a car’s “black box” was used to convict a motorist of criminal charges.
On June 30, a Peabody, Mass., District Court jury found Michelle Zimmerman guilty of misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide in the death of her front seat passenger, Kenneth Carlson. The jury concluded Zimmerman was driving negligently when she skidded out of control and struck a tree on Jan. 4, 2003. Information collected from the event data recorder (EDR), or black box, in her GMC Yukon reported that Zimmerman was driving 58 mph in a 40 mph zone—on an icy road, according to Essex Assistant District Attorney William J. Melkonian. EDR data also showed that Zimmerman never applied the brakes.
Judge Santo Ruma sentenced Zimmerman to two years in prison, one year to be served with the balance suspended for three years of probation. The conviction carries a statutory 10-year loss of license.
Defense lawyer Robert Weiner has vowed to appeal based on his claims that the EDR data was misinterpreted and that police illegally obtained the data. The case could set a legal precedent in Massachusetts and nationwide where EDR information already has been introduced in more than two-dozen cases.
(Excerpt) Read more at abrn.com ...
not such a good thing. black boxes only contain a few seconds of data. Not enough info to get a complete before/during/after picture.
not all cars have them, which makes it's legal use seem discriminatory.
The memory used is astatic RAM and is not sensitive to magnetism.
They are designed to operate the vehicle and its safety equipment.
Use for accident investigation is a misuse of data not collected for that purpose.
Aren't there laws preventing self-incrimination?
The IEEE approved an initial EDR standard at the end of 2004.
But as they are designed to operate brakes airbags and in some cases engines, removal becomes less and less possible.
Further, depending on WHEN you remove it, you could be charged with destruction of evidence. Sort of like hillary "losing" the records...
Nonsense!
Real simple, if you have a wreck have the car towed to your house. After the wrecker leaves destroy the box.
My reading indicated 5 seconds of data is retained (at least in early GM EDR designs). That doesn't seem like a long time. A lot can happen in 5 seconds before an accident. It would be nice to see that extended.
You need to read the entire article. There are numerous states where you need the owners permission before the data can be retrieved. And, there are only 5 seconds of data.
Check out this link...
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/lis/privacy/blackbox05.htm
That's the problem. The fact that it had to be there to operate the car, but is now after accident gone missing, means you are even more suspected, and may be charged with an additional crime of evidence tampering.
I think it's a pure big-brother situation. Does anyone really deserve to live with a camera on them all the time? More government control is not a good thing.
Must have fell off on the way during the tow. I can uderstand this law for public transportation but for private vehicles it is outlandish.
Just Damn!
all modern cars have them. and the data is integrated into the engine management and airbag computers.
For me that wouldn't be a problem. I'ed just carry a spare...
if you are in an accident that involves personal injury to another party (fake whiplash aside) - your car is going to be impounded.
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