Today the Wall Street Journal (subscriber link) is running an article debating the pros and cons of black boxes in your car:
What if you had a bad auto accident and your car could automatically notify an emergency response team, giving doctors detailed information about the force and direction of the collision and the speed at which the car was traveling?
That data could be crucial to guiding an ambulance crew’s decision about whether to rush you to a fully-equipped level one trauma center, says Dr. Richard Hunt of the Center for Disease Control. Research by the CDC has shown that a severely injured person who is transported quickly to a level one trauma center has a 25% better chance of survival.
“I know from clinical experience as an emergency physician, this is a life or death decision,” Dr. Hunt says.
But what if, after you survived the wreck, that same technology turned tattle-tale, and divulged to police or the insurance company that you were speeding or driving recklessly?
Considering that my wife was disabled in a car accident, and that her initial treatment would have been much easier if the medical professionals had had better information to work with, I’m rather fond of the idea of black box data being fed to EMTs after an accident.
I can empathize with those who are concerned about how black box data could be used against them in the event of an accident. However, I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t mention that illuminating truth is always the best policy, considering some of the rants I’ve directed in the general direction of the White House over the past few years.