UK drivers fear 'black box' tech in cars

EUROPEAN UNION plans to install ‘black box’ technology in all new cars from 2015 have met with an overwhelming ‘no’ from UK drivers.

The EU regulations will see e-Call fitted to all new cars sold from November 2015. The e-Call technology automatically contacts the emergency services in the event of a collision and could save 2500 lives on the roads of Europe every year. It will contact emergency services even if the car’s occupants are unconscious.

However, drivers in the UK feel this is a precursor to black box technology that can record a car’s speed and the driver’s behaviour. In a survey by Motorpoint, 71.5% of drivers said they were not in favour of this technology in cars.

Using GPS telematics similar to a satellite navigation system, black box technology can monitor how a driver accelerates, brakes and where and when they drive. There are no plans to use e-Call for this purpose.

Mike Carpenter, Managing Director of Motorpoint, said: ‘You can’t argue with the benefits of a device being used to make it easier for the emergency services to track a vehicle, but the results of our poll are clear. British drivers don’t want costly Big Brother devices attached to their cars which have the potential to track their movements at all times.’

By Press Association reporters