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IEEE Building Automotive Black-Box Standard
An anonymous submitter writes: "According to EE Times, the IEEE is working to develop an automotive black-box standard similar to what airplanes have. Forget Acme Rent-A-Car in Connecticut - get ready to have your insurance company jack your rates for going over 65mph."
The cops in Arlington. VA ARE using GPS and "other" technologies to in a "bait cars" catch car thieves.
Ever dream you could fly? Get up from the Flight Sim. I Fly
...feel like a slap in the face here in America. Other countries, such as Germany, have high speed limits. Think autobahn. And you don't hear about out-of-control highway fatality numbers, either.
Highway speeds, in America, have become nothing more than a money-generation trap.
Furthermore, so has the drinking age. They've (thoughtfully?) set-up a scheme to make money because they know college kids want to drink... and know more than half are under the age of 21.
The real surprise, to me, is in the laws regarding teenage pregnancy... excuse me... the lack thereof. It's ok for some fifteen year old girl to have a baby. That isn't against the law. There are no fines associated with it.
But if some college kids want to throw a party, the campus Beer Gestapo rushes in.
Anyways... these black boxes are a Good Thing(TM). They'll help analyze what went wrong. They'll help to eliminate a he-said-she-said situation where both drivers feel that the other is at fault.
Insurance companies should push to include a GPS system so that a car can be recovered in the event of theft... but make sure that said device is mig-welded to that car. What would be the point if a knowledgeable car thief knew where this box was, and could just rip it out. This would result in less theft claims... and could perhaps help eliminate fraud.