Your car's little black box

That little black box on airplanes has become part of popular lexicon and an invaluable tool for crash and accident investigators to improve the safety of air travel. But what about the little black box in your car?

The Goal - Better Crash Data
The Wall Street Journal has a story - "Will Your Automobile Become a Tattle-Tale?" - on the effort by General Motors to pioneer crash data technology in cars and to require cars to contain it in the near future. In addition to the existing OnStar technology, which can call 911 when the car's airbag deploys, GM's new crash detection system will record

"the direction of the impact, whether the car rolled over, the "delta V," or the change in speed, and other data."

GM is going to work with (and pay for) the Centers for Disease Control to determine how best to transmit that information to emergency services personnel on the scene of an accident. A high-speed side impact, for example, might suggest internal injuries that aren't immediately apparent.

The Effect - Tracking to Tailor Insurance Rates
Of course, once the car becomes a carrier of such data, other interested parties come knocking: insurers. In Europe, drivers can have a satellite tracking system installed in their cars and receive discounts for avoiding geographic areas and times of day with high accident rates. Canadian insurance companies have a similar scheme, but it also tracks vehicle speed, acceleration, and braking.

The Consequences?
And as we've learned with Social Security numbers, creating more data about people tends to lead far beyond the initial intent. So is it a good idea? Are better black boxes a boon to injured drivers? A great way to lower insurance rates? A nice piece of evidence that contradicts your alibi on the night of the 24th?