"Black Boxes" in Hyundai's..???

As far as I understand, it's been a requirement of all recent cars (at
least the last few years). Supposedly, the "black box" doesn't record
too much -- only the last few seconds of data, such as how fast you
were going, what pedals you were pressing at the time of impact, stuff
like that.

Moshe

 

There was a lot of talk in the news today about many of the new car lines
coming equipped with the "black box" recorder right out of the factory.

Does anyone know if Hyundai uses these devices? Not sure how I feel about
about having one in my car ('04 Sonata) but at the very least it would be good
to know whether or not one is present.

G.M.

 

We know what you did last summer!!

M I B

 

I know of no cars that have black boxes per se, but all modern vehicles
have computers with diagnostic capabilities which require them to retain
diagnostic information such as what type of irregularity the computer saw.
By law, engine computers in all vehicles 1996 and newer are required to
save certain diagnostic data anytime an engine diagnostic code is set (and
the check engine lamp illuminated). Among other things, this data includes
coolant temperature, load, vehicle speed, and some other things intended to
give technicians better success at diagnosing intermittent problems seen by
the computer. Many manufacturers supplement this information with more
information they feel will be helpful to the technician in diagnosing the
vehicle. If you bring your vehicle to me and the check engine lamp came
on while you were driving 105 MPH, I would be able to find that out and
might ask you why you were driving so fast, but in reality, this
information is not important to technicians unless it helps them determine
what was going wrong.

Every manufacturer I know of records a significant amount of data in the
computer during an air bag deployment. This is to help them protect
themselves from lawsuits. And, it's entirely possible that the computers
are storing things I can't access but that the factory can. They don't
need to make everything accessible to the technician.

 

There are currently pilots going on where Insurance companies will give you
a discount. In return you have a black box installed that records your
driving habits..... Their goal is to provide lower rates to those who
conform to their standards of safe driving, and probably surcharge those who
do not. There were a few articles abou this in the news or somewhere
recently.

--

regards,
Michael Abbaticchio
MVP for Microsoft Exchange Server
http://exchange.mvps.org

 

If it is the same as in a Hinda the black box is located in the
sterring wheel under the airbag , you can simply disable it by
unplugging the air bag system (Not recommended since it disablse ALL
the air bags in the car and your stuck with this annoying AIrbag error
lamp) Note Insurance companies WILL use the info in the box when the
investigate a serious accident. Import Tuner mag had a mod that
allowed you to zero out the info in the black box continously but I
forgot what issue it was .

 

Actually the "black" box the press is talking about is the Delphi SDM(airbag
ECU), mostly in GM and Ford vehicles. There's no separate "box" for storing
collision data.
Whether the same set of data is recorded in Hyundai or other automakers'
airbag computer or not; we just don't know. It's proprietary info.

 

Don't drive like an asshole and you will be fine.

Go 50 in a 35 zone and T-Bone another car?

Tough shit.