by Claudio Gerino
From next 6 July, as for planes and trains, all newly approved vehicles must have their own “black box”, a device that records the main data while the vehicle is running. A real revolution which, however, will have, inherently, lights and shadows not just. Also because, as is already foreseen by European legislation, from 7 July 2024, other operating parameters of the vehicle and all the safety systems that will be implemented in the coming years will also have to be connected to this “black box”. The rule will also cover all vehicles registered after that date. At the moment, in fact, the new regulation only concerns models that have not yet been put into circulation.
The official wording of the “black box” is “event data recorder”: speed, position, inclination of the vehicle, braking and other parameters that may be fundamental in the event of an accident will be recorded on non-modifiable computer media. The “black box” will be fireproof and cannot under any circumstances be manipulated by the owner of the vehicle. As a rule, it will be placed under the driver’s seat.
In a first phase, the use of the “black box” is foreseen only in case of particular events, such as accidents. With the same system as the now so fashionable dash cams, the system will loop the minutes before and after certain events. If there are no particular events, these data will be overwritten by the following ones. All documentation that can be acquired from the “black box” will be anonymous and accessible only by the police.
At a later stage, however, when in 2024 the “black box” will also record the other parameters of the safety equipment, such as the alcohol block, the intelligent speed adaptation, the sleep warning, the braking automatic emergency and lane maintenance (all information that must be recorded according to the European regulation EU 2019/2144), these data may also have other uses. One of them, for example, is the alcohol block, a system that prevents the vehicle from starting if the driver has a blood alcohol level higher than that required by law: the attempt to start the car in any case could be used to impose related fines. driving while intoxicated. For the moment, no news is foreseen for cars on the road, but it is not excluded that every single country in the future will extend the obligation to those already registered before the entry into force of the European legislation.
If for now this provision will apply only in the homologation phase of new models, before putting into production and selling (or renting) to motorists, there are several issues to consider. First of all, that of insurance for civil liability in the event of accidents. Insurance companies will be able to use the data contained in the black Box to avoid making compensation for damages if this information proves that the driver has behaved outside the rules of road traffic. Just one example, exceeding the speed limits: if the black box will record – as expected – all the parameters
of the vehicle, this data can become decisive in determining whether the driver has not complied with the regulations and therefore, in the event of an accident, the insurance companies will be able to avoid paying compensation. It is not an automatic factor, of course (perhaps the driver had to accelerate to avoid certain dangerous situations), but it is clear that the “black box” will become increasingly important in identifying responsibilities in the event of an accident. Just as, by recording all the parameters, it will also be essential to have a fully functional vehicle. An example? The lights; if the vehicle does not have all the signaling and lighting systems in place, this condition could trigger, even in this case, non-compensation in the event of accidents.
The rationale of the legislation is, of course, that of determining greater safety on the roads during circulation; it is evident, however, that a “black box” system that does not have its own “human” interpretation (specific road conditions, particular situations such as sudden obstacles or fog banks, etc.), could lead to an undue advantage for insurance companies that would have greater ease in not paying claims.
But there is more: in the event of a dispute by the police for certain violations of the highway code, the “black box” could become a sword of Damocles for the motorist, without him being able to make specific arguments and certain counter-arguments with respect to the conditions in which the violation of the rules occurred. It will therefore be appropriate, once the “black box” is extended and in use in all vehicles, to also have a personal “backup” to be able to demonstrate, for example, one’s good faith in the event of both accidents and violation of the code. road: one of these backups, as mentioned, are the “dash cams” which, for example, are mandatory in some Eastern European countries, precisely to allow viewing of the moments in which accidents occur. Also because, it must be said, the black box will not be connected, if not optionally, to external and internal camera systems of the passenger compartment and will not record the voices and communications of the driver, but only the “technical” parameters of the car.
In favor of the “black box”, surely, are the insurance companies which, among other things, are already offering policy discounts to those who agree to voluntarily install systems similar to those that will be mandatory starting from July this year. According to the major TPL companies, the presence of the “black box” will also avoid another widespread phenomenon, that of false accidents to cheat insurance companies and that of theft of “valuable” vehicles.
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