The EU kinda surprised folks and passed a new regulation yesterday....over cars. As January 2022 comes up....if you sell a new car in the EU....it has to have certain things on it. The list?
1. A 'black box' (similar to what airplanes currently have). It'll have to be somewhat indestructible but they didn't add that particular wording.
2. An alert system that will pick up on your fatigue or lack of attention.
3. An interface into the alert system that would allow for the installation of a alcohol-detection system. They aren't saying the system has to be in the car, but that some likely 'usb' connection will connect to the interface.
4. The reverse-assistance will now be mandatory (considered an optional item for most all car-makers).
5. Intelligent Speed Brake technology has to be included. It will be a detection system that senses you are approaching too rapidly and automatically slow the car down.
Cost factor? Well....no one is saying much other than it will add significantly onto the purchase of a new car. If I were taking a guess...just the reverse-assistant by itself will run around 700 Euro. On the 'black box'....maybe you could just have a flash-drive in some key area of the interior....maybe it's cost could be kept for 150 Euro. The Speed Brake technology is around but currently, you'd have to pay a minimum of 700 Euro and most might label it around 1,200 Euro. Maybe if you packaged all of this, and had it made in China....you could do this for 600 to 800 Euro total.
So 2,000 Euro added to the cost of even a cheaper car (like the VW Polo)? Yeah.
Then I'd start to worry about the quality of the 'Black Box', and if it were to break....just how quick would I have to replace it. Folks disconnecting their 'Black Box'? Well....I would imagine about a year into the mandatory installation.....the EU picks up on trends and has to create some 1,000 Euro fine if the cops stop you and it's disconnected.
So you are going to ask....is this really necessary? In the mind of the EU bureaucrats....the accident rate across Europe can be decreased. Just mandating the Speed Brake technology might cut 10-percent of accidents (minimum).
The alcohol-detection connectivity to the system? I would imagine that if you ever get a DWI....there's likely to be some ten-year mandated period for this detection system to be hooked up. This might decrease accidents as well, but then you have to wonder....just how easy will it be to disconnect?
As for the 'Black Box'? You will likely end up with two-hundred-odd police hired in each country who have the responsibility of analyzing every single accident and each single 'Black Box'. Responsibility of accidents? This will turn into a harsh reality for some folks....where it'll seem like a airline accident rather than a car accident.
As for the EU-skeptics whining about this? They will have a point about the mandatory nature. If you did all of this and a quarter of all accidents disappear in a year or two.....it might have been worth the effort. My guess is that people will drift over to used-car sales, and the 2021 models (without the 'Black Box') will popular and stay around for forty-odd years. Then you come to the privacy 'geeks' who will see the 'Black Box' as a evil part of the EU agenda.
Bold new world coming.
3 comments:
Sadly people prove everyday how shit at driving they are. So anything that can reduce the hazards probably pays off in the long run. People whine about their 'right' to drive a car, and their 'right' to own things, yet when you ask them to take responsibility they tend to shrug and walk away... similar to dog ownership. I think if there was a way to track down who leaves dog faeces on the grass and then shoot the owner with a slow bullet at dawn, I'd be all for it.
I might agree on reducing hazards with some parts of the EU regulations....but it troubles me that this probably will increase the cost impact on cars (even the cheaper VW or Opels) by 2,000 Euro. The other issue....more gadgets on the cars that will fail (6 years down the road), and the repair guy telling you it's a 1,500 Euro repair bill. I'm also a little concerned how exactly this 'black box' thing will be used, and if eventually, your insurance company might get access to the data, and ramp up your yearly costs based on their evaluation of the data.
I'll even go and predict that the EU mandates an alcohol-measuring device on cars by 2030, and that it has to be installed by the car makers, and must be functional at all times. Even if you are a confirmed non-drinker for over 40 years....you'd probably still get dragged into paying for it in the build of your new car.
I mean, lets face it, most of the insurers scrape your data through back door tracking within smartphone apps and our idiotic compulsion to share all our activities publicly. You'd hope that the black box would exclude any sort of connectivity that would transmit, but every time such technology comes out, a bad actor finds a way to exploit it. Doesn't mean we shouldn't try. I mean, plenty of people drive like retards, but I still think cars shouldn't be banned.
Although I'm not sure how you'd confirm you're a non-drinker? I mean, would you accept a blood transfusion from someone without checking it if they grew up in Africa and swore to you that they always used condoms?
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