AutoBrake Connection: Connecting Motion Sensor to Brake Line

[jim hardy]

Most new cars store all that info from the last few seconds of driving before airbag deployment.
There's currently legal haggling over whether insurance company and liability lawyers should get access to it.

I have a feeling that this will soon be mandatory.

edward - that thing is a cellphone ? Sounds to me like they've automated the speed trap. Next logical step after traffic light cameras.
Ask a lawyer if accepting that thing is a voluntary surrender of your fifth amendment protection .

 

[cjl]

I have a similar widget to that one except that I use it to monitor my car's performance, efficiency, and how everything has been performing - it hooks to my phone over bluetooth, and it's a fantastic way to keep track of my car's behavior over time. Mine also doesn't have a cell phone or GPS connection at all - it's purely a way I can monitor my car. All those sensors, electronics, and the like can be good or bad, it all depends on how you use them.

In my case, the data logging can show me how I can drive more efficiently on the street, and it also let's me track things like engine temperature, shift points, throttle position, and the like when I take my car to the track. Having that data is a fantastic tool for improving performance and efficiency, and for seeing when something is starting to go wrong.

As for that thing becoming mandatory? I very much doubt it. There's no safety benefit, and the cost would be substantial. They couldn't generate revenue either, since even if one of those devices recorded you going 150mph through Nevada (or something like that), they can't ticket you without proof that you were the one driving the vehicle.

 

[jim hardy]

They couldn't generate revenue either, since even if one of those devices recorded you going 150mph through Nevada (or something like that), they can't ticket you without proof that you were the one driving the vehicle.
T 12:22 PM

Well, don't let your car report itself speeding in Pottersville.

Civil Forfeiture (In Rem)

What is it?

Unlike criminal forfeiture, civil forfeiture proceeds against the property, not the person. In theory, civil actions are remedial, not punitive like criminal proceedings. By acting civilly, the government seeks to remedy a harm, through the fiction of the property's "guilt."
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Once the government establishes probable cause that the property is subject to forfeiture, the owner must prove by "preponderance of the evidence" that it is not. http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/forfeiture

See also http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/380/693

ONE 1958 PLYMOUTH SEDAN, Petitioner, v. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Now, on a more positive note -

I have a similar widget to that one except that I use it to monitor my car's performance,

I'd really like to have something that'd fit between the obd port and my laptop's usb for realtime . Neighbors all have newer cars with check engine lights...i get a lot of questions.

Do you know of an easy to use gizmo for somebody like me who really dislikes abstruse menu screens?

old jim

 

[cjl]

Well, this is the one I use: http://www.scantool.net/obdlink-mx.html

I don't know if there's a good way to connect to a laptop, but it connects to a smartphone with bluetooth really easily. I use the Torque app (http://torque-bhp.com/) to talk to it, and it works great. Very easy to use, and no difficult-to-navigate menus. It'll read and clear codes, as well as give you any and all real time sensor data that your car has. That same company makes a version of the scanner that uses wifi instead of bluetooth - that one might work with a laptop as well...