[s-cars] Off the wall questions

[Kent McLean]

Robert Myers wrote:
> I've been hearing rumors of Big Brother mandating automobile black 
> boxes to record recent operating parameters for cars.  Smokey could 
> stop you, plug his OBDII gadget (or remote reading device or 
> whatever) into your car and get a readout of your speed (or whatever) 
> for the last hour and then start writing.

IANAL, but I'll give you my 2 cents.  There is already a case in
court where the prosecutor used data from a GM car (Cadiallac?).
I think it was On-Star equipped, which may mean it captures more
data. Busted for an accident they caused when the driver said,
"I was going X" and the black box showed they were going "Y".

The future of a tall-tale black box is (I believe) currently
in the legislature. I'm sure it'll pass as a "we're just using
it to collect accident data", then once the boxes are in place,
the law will be amended to "we can use the data we collected."

And if that is the case, wiping the data before the police
can get to it may be looked upon as tampering with evidence.

So, keep your old S-cars, and keep them well maintained.

-- 
Kent McLean
'94 100 S Avant, "Moody"
'89 200 TQ, "Bad Puppy" up in smoke