homeWelcome, sign in or click here to subscribe.login
     


 

 

Weekend


Subscriber content preview

August 24, 2012

Strange But True!

Q. You know about the “black box,” or flight data recorder, on airplanes, for reconstructing details of accidents. But what about the black box in your car?

A. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 85 percnet of new vehicles are equipped with an event data recorder (EDR), says Willie D. Jones in IEEE Spectrum magazine. This nondescript box, about the size of a deck of cards, can provide a rich record for police, courts, insurance on how fast you were driving, when you hit the brakes, and whether you were wearing a seat belt.


 
. . .


To read this story in full login or purchase a subscription.



Previous columns:



Email or user name:
Password:
 
Forgot password? Click here.