Toyota Shortcomings Result In Flurry Of Big Brother Controls Aimed At Automakers And YOU!

Hmmm, I wonder if this information will be accessible to the insurers and they can use that information to base claim denials.

After all, if the black box shows you were speeding, then you were violating the law and the claim may be denied. This has the potential to be abused.

It's worse than that. They can just do a review of your black box to calculate the following BEFORE even giving you your premium:
1. How fast you accelerate from a stop
2. How often you make sudden stops
3. How often you go faster than 60
4. How quickly you make sharp turns
5. How often you are in stop and go traffic (where fender benders happen most)

So without even getting a ticket or accident, the insurance company will use the above to calculate your insurance premium. Their justification would be "we are giving low risk drivers better prices because we shift the cost of the premiums to the higher risk drivers." And this even if the "higher" risk drivers never get into an accident.

I don’t think the insurance companies will use the black box for coverage/claim decisions. The two folks above are just your typical paranoid Americans.

What they don't realize is that most of the information that the black box will record is already available via OBDII. Current cars log the speed at which the vehicle has been driven, how high the revs were, how long did the revs stay high, etc… If all that information is already available in current vehicles, then why aren’t the insurance companies using that information? And then there’s that recreational thing called a racetrack. Where you are allowed to speed and your current insurance policy is voided for the time that the vehicle is on track.

And even if insurance companies were to use that information, I’ll just get a performance car one year before they start putting in the black boxes. I’ll keep that car as a fun car forever and keep modifying it.

Lexsucks - It is all about risk, and they have they have a history of finding ways to raise rates. After all how do you explain them taking random credit queries and raising rate based on that alone? This COULD be yet another profit tool for them, after all if the feds have the info, then the freedom of information act lets them get it. Easy savings.

Wow times that you can enjoy your sport car is comming to end, with all of this devices that record every movement on your car turns and details... so enjoy your sport car now if you really enjoy to drive because as I see ...The driving pleasure is close to end lol lol and I don't want to mention privacy of all your movements...

There's already something in current cars that records that information. It's called OBDII. Is that stopping the fun? Why do some people proclaim end-of-days (no more fun cars) without any evidence that its happening? Man!! People are paranoid! LOL!!

Don't forget if you go trackside for safe fun, that will be reported as well.

There is such a thing as to much regulation. This "black box" is BS.

Who says they the information will be used other than for accidents? Can we wait until something actually happens before we go off the deep-end?

Like I said 2 other times in this thread; OBDII monitors all that stuff right now in new vehicles. Why isn't anyone up in arms saying that "We are being policed"? Reason? Its because that information isn't being used in a manner that will effect insurance rates.

I'm not sure why people feel that the Black-Box will be any different. Other than Paranoia

The potential for abuse of black boxes in vehicles goes beyond insurance companies. Never underestimate the zeal of politicians in gov't to find creative ways to extract more money from the citizens it purports to serve. In the UK, a system is currently being tested in which speeding tickets are initiated by satellites. How long before a "progressive" state like California (my home state) begins instituting fines based on information gleaned from black box data? It may sound far-fetched, but so did red light cameras with purposefully shortened yellow light intervals. In a time in which the primary focus of many politicians is to find ways to increase the amount of money transferred from private citizens to gov't, anything is possible.

sounds like more crazy paranoia from crazy lunatic people. I don't really know what is in this bill, perhaps there are things to be concerned about, but I'll worry about it when it comes out and all is known about these black boxes etc. As far as government regulation, we definitely need some. The lack of it is the reason why detroit went bankrupt and why the whole world wide economy collapsed. And no, it is not communism. That's like saying that a football game is communist because it has regulations and regulators (refs). Though without regulations a football game would not be a football game. It would be a killing zone.