Say the words "black box", and most people think of the devices used in aircraft to record flight data or cockpit chatter in the last few seconds before a plane crash. These devices give forensics teams and the planes' designers a much better idea of what lead to a crash than the wreckage or other evidence can.
They are rarely, if ever, painted black - bright orange is the most common colour, as it's easy to pick out amidst aircraft debris.
The event data recorder
Recently, and far less publicly, car manufacturers in the US
have started getting in on the act.
Ford, General Motors and several others have been installing automobile black boxes, called Event Data Recorders, across their lines for several years now. Researchers estimate that 64% of passenger cars sold in the US now come with these boxes installed.
As modern cars are becoming more and more reliant on electrical systems to control steering, breaking, acceleration and just about every other function, so the use of electronic monitoring devices in test cars became an essential part of any research lab crash test or performance monitor.
But at some point, the decision was taken to include this monitoring equipment in production models as well as lab cars. Ostensibly, the reasoning was the same - to collect further data for safety research, particularly from bizarre or unpredictable crashes that are outside the realms of normal lab testing.
However, data recovered from EDRs is also admissible as evidence in American law courts, and US police frequently draw on black box recordings to corroborate officers' reports and the accounts of witnesses.
Presumably, safe drivers should have nothing to fear from having their cars turned into electronic snitches. But in the Land of the Free, many motorists regard EDRs as a gross invasion of privacy.
Recent legislation forces manufacturers to disclose whether or not a black box has been installed in the car's manual. But US consumer groups have panned this as a half-hearted and largely unhelpful measure to keep the customer informed about what he or she is buying.
Reading the manual is an activity done at home, after purchasing, if at all - and there's no way of removing these devices without compromising other electrical systems in the car. One internet pundit said saving black box information for the manual was "like putting nutritional information on the inside of the box."
Other US black boxes
A number of third-party electrical suppliers in the States also
produce automobile black boxes, which exploit similar
technology to the EDR but put it to different uses. These are
fitted at the owner's (rather then the manufacturer's)
discretion.
Some provide real-time feedback directly to the driver based on his or her driving performance. Targeted at young drivers (but generally purchased by their parents), these include products like Road Safety International's RS-1000, which monitors speed, cornering and breaking and emits an alarm sound every time the driver is judged to be driving dangerously.
While some might argue that the installation of an electronic scream-box will cause more accidents than it prevents, the RS- 1000 helps plenty of proud American parents sleep better - safe in the knowledge that its infallible sensors are watching over their son or daughter.
The other use US business has come up with for the auto black box is a way of metering car insurance premiums.
Unlike the EDR, which stores only the last five seconds or so of driving before a crash, and the RS-1000, which dispenses its advice locally and directly, the black boxes used by the American motor insurance industry communicate via GPS satellite.
Data relating to when and where you drive, how fast you go and how often is all beamed back to your insurance provider's offices for analysis. There, a more complete picture of risk can be built up than has ever been possible before, and, provided you drive safely and only when you need to, it can hopefully lead to a reduced car insurance premium in future.
But the benefits of this system aren't limited to cheaper car insurance premiums.
GPS satellite tracking means your insurer can pinpoint your position instantly, and very accurately. That's bad if you're a conspiracy theorist or a fugitive on the run, but brilliant if you break down or get lost - the breakdown service will get to you much quicker than before, and the satellite boffins will doubtless give you directions to the nearest motel or mini-mall if you ask nicely.
And if your car gets stolen, the police can use your black box to track it down - hopefully before the perps rip out your headrest-mounted plasma screens and spill root beer on the upholstery.
Black boxes in the UK
Metered car insurance is a sure-fire hit with drivers who have
nothing to hide - particularly if your motoring lifestyle makes
you a lower risk than regular car insurance providers realise.
Drive mostly during the day? Don't drive very far when you do? Stay on the right side of the tracks? If so, chances are you'd qualify for a cheaper car insurance premium with one of these black box policies.
And the good news is they're now available in the UK.
This month, More Than became the first UK motor insurance firm to offer a black box metering policy. And Norwich Union, who are currently conducting a closed trial of their system with well on the way to 100,000 members, will be hot on their heels.
The More Than package, called Drivetime, focuses on a single (and frightening) statistic: 40% of accidents involving young drivers which take place between 11.00pm and 06.00am result in death or serious injury, as opposed to half that figure, just 20%, during the rest of the day.
The solution: offer young driver car insurance at a 40% discount provided you don't drive at night. Policyholders spend less time on the roads, and 80% of the crashes they do have will be minor - so More Than can easily afford the discount.
The sting in the tail comes when you do drive during those forbidden hours. More Than charges a whopping £25 for every trip after curfew, be it an hour late or a minute. Rack up two or three of these in a month - and it only takes an unexpected traffic jam on the way back from the garage or video shop - and that 40% discount becomes pretty ineffective.
And the More Than system is still very simple, given the capabilities of the technology. Policy holders pay the same regardless of how far they travel during the day - it's only at night that mileage is an issue. And locality isn't taken into account - Drivetime knows where you are at all times, but it doesn't reward you for avoiding accident blindspots, for example.
The upcoming Norwich Union young driver car insurance package, called 'Pay as You Drive', promises to do all that and more besides. As the NU website confidently states: "We are able to calculate monthly insurance premiums based on how often, when and where you drive."
Pay as You Drive premiums work much the same way as a mobile phone contract. You pay a basic monthly premium, and then pay extra for miles just as you would for minutes on your mobile.
Like Drivetime, PAYD miles are more expensive at night - the predicted 'peak rate' is £1 per mile. 'Off-peak' miles can cost as little as 6p per mile, but the amount varies according to age, gender and the make and model of your car.
Subscribers will get 100 off-peak miles free with their car insurance premium.
Unlike the More Than scheme, where the premium should cost the same every month provided you don't drive after-hours, PAYD premiums are practically guaranteed to fluctuate every month. But NU say they can make up an illustrative car insurance quote based on your circumstances to give you an idea of the saving involved.
Maybe Pay as You Drive will turn out to be the car insurance alternative many of us in the UK are looking for, and make us all into safer drivers as well as more economical ones.
But we can count ourselves lucky even if the NU package doesn't turn out to be as popular as expected: at least the black boxes in this country don't go off like a fire alarm every time you take a corner a bit too fast.