EDR=Electronic Data Recorder

I was reading this article

http://65.54.246.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?...article%3d7386

and was wondering if the tC had these.....

Well I kept reading and they do, not the xA or xB, but the tC does.

These are the automotive counterpart to the airline industries black box. It can detect impact speed, decelleration, airbag info, braking info, seat belt info, etc.

So don't be lying about any accidents, you could get into trouble.

This might help the person though who recently totaled his tC, good luck.

And these are in the majority of new vehicles now and have been in GM vehicles for a while.

Just thought some of you might be interested....

 

i dont like that idea it takes away from privacy

 

That depends, does it have a voice data recorder like on airplane?
We could find out what people say right before the crash, like: "Hold my beer and watch this"

 

not that I'm a conspiracy theorist or anything, but it seems like the NSA / CIA / FBI are pretty much going to be able to figure out everything about you if they want to.... good ol' patriot act...

I guess I'll have to drive a little bit slower, 'cause if I wreck at 100 mph, I won't have very much plausible deniability.

Any other grandmothers we need to know about? One gizmo that pleasantly surprised me was the tire pressure sensor, pretty trick for 16k (once again)

 

Only the auto manufacturers can decode what's in the boxes. If you get into an accident and, for instance, kill somebody, the court could subpoena the contents of the data recorder which would be turned over by Toyota. Under normal circumstances the boxes are only used internally by Toyota to see how the systems react in real-world accidents.

 

Great! .... Validity!!!.. Sorry. I am the guy who had the accident. This should concrete my case if it tells all that. Thank you Scion.

 

By this time next year all vehicles manufactured or sold in North America have to comply with ALL OBD2 standards. Or that manufacture is banned from vehicle sales in NA. Porsche is the only automotive maker NOT compiling.

 

Is there any way to disable these? That's not something I want on while I'm driving around.

 

If you were able to somehow disable it, you're going to have a problem claiming warranty service on the car. They will usually check to make sure the car wasn't negligently abused right before the malfunction. For example, if you go to your dealer and tell him that you are having engine problems and they discover bent valves, they'll want to know if you redlined it or downshifted to 3rd gear going 75mph. Imagine what they'd tell you if they find that there was no recorded data available.

 

Not to self, wrap ECU in thermite, torch in event of accident.

 

The xB has it. Not sure about the xA.

 

I'd gladly give up my warranty protection to not have that kind of thing in the car.

Imagine that you're going 120 mph past an elementary school and run over a bunch of 8 year olds. Do you really want a record of that that a court could subpeona?

 

The Black Box may actually be wired directly to the ECU. If the the box is removed, then your vehicle may not turn on. The black box should only be inspected by your auto insurer or the Cops. The dealer should not touch it. If the dealer tells you something, ask them for proof and where they got it from. Then hire a lawyer.

 

is it just me or does that link not work? that sounds really interesting.

 

Its not like they are looking at you through a peep hole. DMV and SS has a lot of your information so there is no privacy anyways.

I can find the information valueable especially in an auto collision.

 

The black box only records a running 8 seconds which ends if there's an accident(new boxes will add an additional 6 seconds after the accident.) Usually the "accident" is signified by the airbag deploying, but new boxes could use other data (g-forces or other data from the car sensors.)

These things aren't like racing data loggers, where they would record everything a vehicle does for an entire race or longer.

Yes, I really do, because if you did that you deserve to be convicted (and hopefully hanged.)

Here is a news story about a black box helping to convict a man who killed a pedestrian.

Here is a news story where a black box helped to convict a rapist.

Here's a working link to the CarConnection article.

 

They mention this little badboy in the first few pages of the tC owners manual. It records pretty much everything except voice.

 

So what if someone was driving 120 mph and killed your parents, sibling, girlfriend, or friends and lied in court saying he was only going speed limit? Do you want justice?

 

realistically, if you are going around 100 and hit something, whatever it is someone will know how fast you were going or have a pretty good guess, which would be used in court as evidence if coming from an expert (cop, forensicist (spelling?)) etc... all the black box is is hard evidence as opposed to expert opinion. same thing if you get convicted, which you should if you are driving like a jackass and kill someone.

 

Yea I would also be interested in removing this...