Black Box or Big Brother?

mac_head101 said:

Yay! Another chance for the US government and insurance companies to wheedle themselves into our everyday lives!

http://nsnlb.us.publicus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040903/BUSINESS/209030325

Click to expand...

I understand the logic, its troublesome though.

Most likely the 15% discount will be after a 20% increase for everyone and then the rates for the undiscounted will increase and then they will be canceled for various reasons as other insurance companies pick up with the idea. Eventually it will be mandatory with most insurance companies. Then they will add on yearly renewal checks and with insurance mandated by states we will have to put up with it. They say that the boxes can't track position but if you know where you start and the accelerations you can make a guess at locations so if you drive in certain neighborhoods you could be dinged as well.

On the other hand all cars with airbags which are mandated by the government already have that telemetry information stored in them. Additionally similar information is stored by other computerized systems in the car for diagnostic purposes. OnStar is the mother of all Big Brothers and has been used to listen in on private conversations. Car based GPSes in addition to tracking acceleration and velocity track where you've been.

On the one hand: You need a physical to insure your health. I don't see an issue with insurance companies basing fees on driving habits. Yes, I understand that it'll jack up rates in the long run if it doesn't improve driving habits. But I suspect that people with the box will drive better.

On the other: black-market hacks will show up, allowing people to "prove" they're great drivers. They'll warp the system, making everyone pay more except for them and little old ladies who drive only to church and back. Also, the data would show someone who consistently drives 5 mph below the speed limit to be an excellent driver (no hard acceleration, no braking) even though they actually muck up traffic by driving like morons.

The only solution, as far as I can see, are robot drivers. Nothing else will work.