[Tennessee_Bob]

Coming soon - an automobile version of the "cockpit voice recorder"?

Already in place with some vehicles. Those equipped with systems like Onstar (which uses a GPS to help locate vehicles in need of help) have had their data recorded for awhile now. There was a lawsuit a few years back (when I was working for EDS) because some organizations wanted to take the tracking information and use it for accident investigation - that way, they could get speed, heading, and the like for the thirty seconds or so prior to the accident. The lawsuit ended up going to the privacy advocates, and the data was kept private.

[alfa6]

I figured you all had heard about the new "Black Box " recorders on some of the 4X4's that capture the last 20 seconds or so of audio in the cab.
Most of the ones from Texas the last sound heard was..."Hey y'all watch this"
And now you now where the phrase "Here, huld muh beer" comes from. (grin)

Actually I am of mixed feelings about this data. On one hand it would be nice to know the pertinet data so that accidents could be accuaretly reconstructed. OTOH the privacy issues are pretty thorny. And don't even mention the court order bit, that sounds like a ruse to keep the masses happy.

Oh well, I guess as with most things of this nature you will be able to buy the "Anti Black Box Black Box" thru ads in the back of Popular Mechanics and what not before to long.

Regards

alfa6 ;>}