The ECU has been able to record certain events for ages, hasn't it? How else do dealers know if you shift into 2nd instead of 4th and over-rev?

 

No, not to my knowledge.

 

The '06 has the black box too, according to the owners manual.

 

There are instances where the air bag fails to pop. If the black box records the speed during the crash, it'll sure help the situation.

Plus, it's also good thing to void warranty to those that have excessively abused their vehicle.

 

I was being sarcastic about cops sitting at the dealership giving tickets. My friend got an EZpass ticket for 100+MPH so perhaps its only in extreme instances.

I think the black box could be a good idea if implimented well

 

Nope the actual black box does not record speed.

The ECU might, in fact, do that BUT the black box will not. The black box ONLY records Gs, seat belt activity, air bag activity, etc.

 

Yep, says so right in the manual, except for the G's. But I will believe that G's are recorded since this is done through an accelerometer and unaffected if the vehicles' speed sensor is interrupted, right?.

 

From the news about these devices, they have mentioned that the boxes are capturing speed.

In fact there was a case where the person responsible for an accident was overturned because the other person was speeding.

Of course lawyers are having a field day with this.

 

Thats bad business, lets face it, no sports car owner (or anyone who occasionally gets on the throttle) would ever take their car in for service. They'd find 3rd party mechanics to do all the work.

As for the one-two steps away from photo tickets comment, I got one new year's day heading home through DC. Ironically i was explaining to my sister how they worked, not even thinking about why there happened to be a sign and slashes on the pavement. But even then all they could do was send me a $100 fine (no points, etc) because they can't "prove" who was driving. I paid it because its the best/highest resolution picture of my del sol yet lol.

 

I think its impart due to things like On*Star or w/e it is. It wouldn't suprise me if they can get time/speed/distance and relate accident information to first responders and stuff.

Additionally to issue tickets based on a black box they'd have to prove who was driving and have some sort of GPS reading to back up their claims (i doubt my Si's speedo is dead accurate at 100+ lol).