There’s a phrase that keeps repeating itself in my head as I write: “freedom of the road”. I suspect it has been lodged there for many a year — quite possibly since my first reading of the tale of Mr Toad in 'The Wind in the Willows'.
Over the years it has come to stand for something we all hold very dear: the ability to get into a car of my choice at any time, and drive it wherever I want.
So I’m bothered by two burning questions: will this precious freedom be threatened if I consent to have a 'black box' driving monitor fitted to my car (tracking speed, acceleration, position and time) for the purpose of lowering my insurance premium. And does the personal confidentiality I’m keeping matter very much?
The practice of electronically gathering driving information is already common for younger drivers. The telematics company Ingenie reckons if a new driver consents to fitment of a box, his or her insurance premium can be halved to a just-about-affordable £1700 a year, provided of course his/her driving (as monitored) is shown to be reasonably safe. And there’s an argument that says the monitoring system also assists with the safety of younger drivers, far more prone to serious crashes than the rest of us. It looks like a no-brainer
But should I consent to the black box, and should you? Even for the 'mature' drivers with good insurance records, premums are high. I used to pay an eye-watering £1200 to insure the Ariel Atom I recently sold — which might have fallen to £750 if I had consented and monitored. That’s £450 a year for giving up some information that doesn’t strike me as very important. And yielding it might just contribute to some research findings which could make things better for all of us.
On balance, I think I’d go with it. I’d back myself to drive well enough not to upset the black box, and I fundamentally don’t care who knows where I am at what time. After all, I’m already carrying a mobile phone, another black box that can yield up this info and more. And as the RAC says, if I do come to grief they’ll instantly know where I am to effect a rescue. Best of all, those freedoms of the road I started with aren’t affected at all. I can still drive whatever car I choose and go wherever I want to go.
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I Consider Black Boxes a Breach of Human Rights
For now it is only insurance companies pushing this tech onto us, but how long will it be before the government force us to have them for road charging and speed enforcement purposes? Thin end of a wedge doesn’t do the situation justice. If the government keep trying to track everything we do, either online or in our cars, I might just find myself moving to Germany where events that occurred in the not so distant past mean that freedom is valued rather more highly.
Right to reply!
@ Peter Cavellini
I happen to agree with him as we should value our freedom, it was fought for by those in the 2nd world war, so I don't think we should give it up so easily.
We need to resist the changes being foisted upon society by multinationals that incrementally enslave not only this generation but our children's.
Our Children are being programmed to believe its normal to have 24hr surveillance through T.V & big brother. They also have to accept its normal to have ones finger prints taken at school so they can access the school canteen. All cashless of course.
This is another way of looking at black box's.
@DBtechnician.
Dear Peter
Your last comment indicates that you have not heard of smart meters & their implications, or home computers with operating systems designed with a back door for security services.
Perhaps you were unaware that surveillance cameras were around at the time of 7/7 or 9/11 or last years Boston Bomb and that satellites existed before the lies about WMD in Iraq.
Thankfully having served years in the security services I can see through some of the B/S around why we need more cameras and devices in cars & homes to keep us all safe.
The insurance industry is
The insurers have a benchmark profit margin and are continually looking to increase this even in a mature market, to impress share holders, so if black boxes were to become the norm then insurance policies would quickly rise back to today's levels for any given car. So we will find ourselves paying the same for insurance whilst continually monitored. Just like we now live in colder, darker houses paying the same energy bills....
A Force for Good or Evil?
I am an optimistic pessimist. I would love to see the data used to better analyse driving patterns, improve our understanding of the road, improve safety while maintaining freedom.
This can only be achieved if the driver is allowed to operate without penalty. However this is not the case because by definition the black box impacts your wallet so will modify driver behaviour making any results compromised.
Insurance companies will use the black box like mobile operators sell data packages. For unlimited freedom and no big brother pay more, for reduced cost modify your behaviour as we dictate but exceed your usage and we'll penalise massively and refuse to pay in the event of an accident - even if you weren't exceeding our parameters at the time.
Black boxes give insurance companies and not Law Makers the ability to control my freedom. Not more overtaking safely (60mph past a 45mph truck is fundamentally not safe - too much time exposed to danger). No more taking a tight bend at 60mph within the limit although you and the car are fundamentally capable - the g-force measurement was too high - you're not an insurable risk.
Manufacturers already record this data which the Police can access in the event of an accident. The Government will soon implement digital tax disks that will monitor location and charge us for road use. These bodies are elected by or paid-for by the public to whom they are answerable.
To allow private for-profit organisation to monitor and penalise the public and thereby modify public behaviour is deeply worrying at best.