Cycling UK Forum

Pedestrian wrote:Black boxes would revolutionise road safety - I genuinely can't fathom why there is not more lobbying for these to be phased in.

I want one as well. I want my premium lowered based on evidence of my driving not the current figure which is based upon job, age and gender.

Maybe if all car have them the sensible young drivers will get a low premium and the lunatics will pay for the risk they pose. Plus eventually I'm sure the data will be passed onto the Police and speeders will get their comeuppance.

I am not so sure about that.
My insurance premiums are so low that the price of a black box might double them.

Does the black box help to prevent your car getting stolen?

meic wrote:I am not so sure about that.
My insurance premiums are so low that the price of a black box might double them.

Does the black box help to prevent your car getting stolen?

A black box could help in two ways.
1) If it demonstrates your driving is "better" than presumed by your age/profession etc stats.
2) It could probably be used in an agreed get-out clause e.g no payment on your damage (not 3rd parties) if black box data shows illegal behaviour.

No numbers to quote but I suspect that theft is the minor part of insurance payouts.

I presume a lot would depend on what the black box recorded and where it got the info. It cannot be beyond the wit of society to include some sort of tracker. Obviously, the only things which would reduce the taking of motor vehicles would be even stronger physical security, but then you get into the area of people being robbed and homes burgled to steal the keys.

I'd have a black box too.

I have nothing to hide, and I obey the law. I do about 5,000miles a year and often go for nearly a week between driving the car. Why should I pay insurance based on address, age, car? I'd like to see 3rd Party insurance put on the fuel cost, and any extra insurance based on the black box info.

Black boxes would also prevent speeding by regulating the engine depending on where you are.

I'm all for it.

Labour have finally developed a policy

Bribe drivers into driving better:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/new ... plans.html

I am all for the black box in theory but I am too tight to pay for it and its installation.
Rather like having a camera on the bike, handy for collecting evidence and reminding ME that I must behave like an exemplar but it could cost £100.

If the Black Box Idea came to fruition, it wouldn't necessarily be retro-fitted. Perhaps just on new build cars, like seat belts, catalytic converters, ABS as standard, air bags, speed limiters on larger vans and minibuses etc.

I wouldn't want a black box on my bike or car that could tell "The Man" (government, insurance company or anyone else) all about wherever I go. This was one reason (IMHO) why the previous government's idea of road charging fell by the wayside.

But a device that just stored, say, the last ten minutes would be fine.

I think an unknown number of drivers who fail to stop after a collision are not drunk, or on the run from the police but are simply somewhere they should not be or with somebody they should not be with eg somebody else's spouse. (I'm not implying that this is the only reason why people might want to protect their personal data, especially CTC forum members. )

I was thinking some time back that if you suspected your spouse was playing away, and you wanted to know where they had been in the car, just buy/borrow a Garmin Edge.

Switch it on, press Start, and hide it in the car boot. It can be set to Auto Pause when the car isn't moving.

When the car/spouse comes home, collect the Edge and upload the data. The track will be accurate down to 20ft and if you upload to Google Maps or something, you can even see the address.

A GPS logger at £20 or so will do that.

My various girlfriends would find out where the others live. Yikes.

It wouldnt work in the boot would it?
You would have to leave it out of sight on the rear parcelshelf I think.

meic wrote:It wouldnt work in the boot would it?
You would have to leave it out of sight on the rear parcelshelf I think.

My 705 works in the car in my pocket. I don't see why it wouldn't work in the boot. Most boots are in hatchbacks, and if you have a saloon, the back seats are often the front of the boot. There isn't a Faraday Cage sort of car I don't think.

Mine even works on an aeroplane or on a train.

Now you will have to try it, to find out for sure.

I consider them to be nearer to optical receivers than electro-magnetic ones.

My first GPS had to be held right up to the window to get satellites, the newer one works much better.