Tiny Black Box In Your Car Affects Discount Auto Insurance Rates
posted in Auto Insurance Help |A black box, also known as the Event Data Recorder (EDR) for short, records all of the data during the flight of an aircraft, such as air speed,altitude, and sound and voice transmissions. Typically, black boxes are anything but black. They are usually a radiant color, which makes them easier to discover in the air craft wreckage following a crash.
Almost everyone knows that airplanes have a black box. What you may not know, however, is that your automobile might also have one. This box, which is about the size of a deck of playing cards, is installed in about 70 percent of all new cars. It is unnoticeable and usually is positioned under your seat or dashboard, and it is activated when your automobile’s airbags are set off.
The event data recorders, only record data in theseconds leading up to and after it realizes your airbags are about to go off. The following information is recorded by the EDR:
* Engine speed
* Car speed
* Throttle Position
* Brake Status
* If the passenger’s airbag is on or off
* If the driver’s seat belt is on or off
* If the IR Warning Lamp is vehicle impact to airbag deployment
* Ignition cycle count at investigation
* Ignition cycle count at time of the crash
* Maximum velocity before deployment
* Velocity vs. time for frontal airbag deployment
* Time from automobile impact to time of maximum velocity
* Time between the air bags about to deploy and deployment if it is within five seconds
Insurance carriers use this data to help assess crash information and configure auto insurance prices. Police officers also use the data gathered by the box to reconstruct the events leading up to the crash.
General Motors has been installing black boxes in their vehicles since 1999, and several other vehicle manufacturers have been installing them since 1996. Crash investigators, companies, police and government investigators say such data is critical to learning how to build safer automobiles. Privacy advocates say EDRs are a way to obtain information that can be used to incriminate drivers.
Starting in 2011, auto manufactures will be required to let consumers know if their new vehicle has an event data recorder, or “black box”. Vehicle makers haven’t been forthcoming about information on the devices, so this is good news.
There are other instruments available to install on your vehicle to help you receive Discount Auto Insurance. IVOX Corporation and Progressive Insurance have made devises that monitor your driving habits at all times. So if you install one of these monitors, make sure when getting Free Insurance Quotes to inform your agent so he can add on the additional discount for you.
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