Black box

Black boxes can monitor and store various driving behaviours, including steering movements, accelerating and decelerating and also driving speed. Theoretically and technically it would be possible to compare the information of the speed limit in force and the actual driving speed and use this as a source of information for detecting and enforcing speed limit violations.

The European SARTRE survey showed that 28% of more than 24,000 interviewed drivers were "very much" in favour of black box systems that would provide evidence about speeding or dangerous behaviour for enforcement [55]. An expert workshop organized by the ESCAPE-consortium identified the following preconditions for increasing the acceptance (by agencies and the public) of 'intelligent', vehicle-based enforcement systems such as the black box [44]:

A Europe-wide registration of car owners
Vehicle owner responsibility
Decriminalisation of most traffic offences or administrative law
Assurance to the public that the hidden purpose is not revenue making
Fully automated detection and processing of violations
Modern digital and wireless technology
Warning before intervention or recording of offence
Consideration of duration and frequency of individual's non-compliance
Transparency of controlling strategy, use of revenues, etc
Extra benefits for vehicle owners (e.g. theft protection), drivers (e.g. navigation) and road operators (e.g. better traffic management)
Research to prove the effects on safety.