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Black boxes in cars give info to police, insurance companies
KMOV TV St. Louis MO ^ | 1/31/03 | Reporter: Marc Cox, News 4

Posted on 01/31/2003 8:58:01 PM PST by YOMO

There's a new device on most automobiles these days that you don't see listed in the owner's manual. If it works properly, it can save your life. But to accomplish that task, the small computer chip needs to know information about your car and how you drive it. Police and insurance companies are now able to get their hands on that information.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: autoshop; blackbox; insurancecompany; privacy; privacylist
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To: YOMO
Wow, yet another reason to avoid General Mistake.
21 posted on 02/01/2003 6:06:27 AM PST by Petronski (I'm not always cranky.)
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To: Maelstrom
Airbag won't work. So much the better! I'm not too keen on driving around with live explosives a foot from my face.
22 posted on 02/09/2003 4:58:27 PM PST by VoiceOfBruck (this is not Big Brother's Oldsmobile)
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Comment #23 Removed by Moderator

Comment #24 Removed by Moderator

To: VoiceOfBruck
The SDM airbag module is the 'black box' that everyone is talking about. GM cars with airbags since 1973 have been recording crash data. I would suspect that every car builder out there has recorded crash data stored in the airbag module. GM DOES mention in the owners manual that data is recorded.

The recorded crash data belongs to the owner of the vehicle. You can send the airbag module off to be downloaded by a private company vs the state police.

Some late model Ford vehicles also have this data recored.

The airbag SDM stands for...sensing diagnostic module.

Vetronix makes and sells the equipment that can download the crash data. Most GM cars since 1994 have data available that can be downloaded. Future software upgrades may include years before that...and other companies such as Honda or BMW etc.

Destroying the SDM....if it can be proved that you damaged the SDM. The courts really frown on this. You could lose your case.

We happen to have the Vetronix CDR equipment that can access this info. Also lots of info on the SDM. It can be seen at our website-

http://www.airbagcrash.com

Logan





25 posted on 02/05/2004 9:01:38 PM PST by Logan Diagnostic
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