I understand this box records all kinds of info about your vehicle for the last 15 sec or so. This could help or hurt you in court, What do you think.

 

What do you think of this one

 

It will hurt if you were driving like a moron. It will most likely help you if you were being legal and/or non-moronic those 15 or so seconds.

 

I like the idea of the black box. It removes a lot of questions during/after a serious accident. I typically drive/abide by the law so it doesn't bother me. I think it will help prove in a accident when some idiot slams into you that they were at fault.

Some people will think this is a violation of the 4th amendment by using the black box to investigate an accident. I can't find anything that states that it is law to have the black box installed in your car. The black box was meant for use in dealer warranty applications. Some people including myself feel it may be mis-used when investigating an accident.

I could understand both points of view. The question is...."Does the gov have the right to use this device as evidence in a legal proceeding?" and if we as the car owner want to: "could we disconnect/remove this device without this act voiding our warranty"? It get's interesting?? This is a good question!

http://www.bloombergconsulting.com/F...ack%20Box.html

Actual black box report:
http://www.bloombergconsulting.com/f..._Econoline.PDF

Legal example:
http://www.bloombergconsulting.com/F...ack%20Box.html

4th Amendment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_...s_Constitution

 

There is no law, yet at least, that says the "black box" is an automatically admissible court evidence. As with anything that is not defined by statute as a legal bit of evidence, the judge would have to admit it on a case by case basis, which means that a good lawyer can motion to have the evidence blocked and therefore barred from being considered for the case in question.

The "black box" is not a separate data logging device, if I understand correctly. I think the "black box" is actually part of the flash memory of the PCM. Otherwise, I think data recorder for the parameters measured, would be device at least several gigabytes in size? It would have to be larger if it were to data-record parameters for much longer than just 15-30 sec. If my guess is correct, the PCM suite is barely bare bones. If it were truly powerful, even to just the standards of a cell phone, the PCM would also be capable of reading not just from one tune, but a second, third, fourth tune with just a flip of a switch or a push of a button!

Hell, look at the '12 Boss; the PCM is capable of storing two tunes: the stock tune and the TracKey tune just by turning off the car and switching to the red key.

 

Absolutely true.

Yes and no. If there is an accident and the box is likely to prove or disprove the cause, then it's admissible. Situations where the evidence it contains is irrelevant would be rare.

 

What about the previous Bullitt too. Didn't it have two tunes for different octanes?