Time for car ‘black boxes’

Dear Editor,

If the Government is serious about reducing the numerous road fatalities and serious injuries that are occurring on a daily basis, then it would be seriously considering the deployment of regulations that mandate all public passenger vehicles (PPVS) are fitted with a “car black box” at the owner’s expense.

These devices should be issued by a Government-authorised institution and monitored on an ongoing basis. They can be fitted when a PPV licence is being renewed.

Basically, a black box can have the ability to record distance travelled (driving and parking times, for days, hours, and minutes in percentage terms). In the event of a crash it records the place, time, and last speed detected. All this information can be sent to a read-only database via satellite, which would be very useful for insurance companies to monitor the behaviour of their PPV policy holders on the road.

Poor driving habits could result in insurance cover being revoked or premiums being significantly increased, which would result in an improvement in driving habits of PPV vehicles. Access to this database should also be provided to the Traffic Authority (TA) and police to assist investigations of crashes.

Given Jamaicans’ tendencies to ignore the traffic laws, it should also be a criminal offence to remove/disable a black box. Random checks should be undertaken by joint teams from the police and the TA to ensure that PPV black boxes are in place and working. Likewise, monitoring could also be undertaken on the data that is being received via satellite to ensure compliance. If no data is being received the PPV should be impounded, or if a PPV is found to be regularly speeding excessively, then the PPV licence should be revoked.

While I focus on PPVS here, consideration should also be given to require any motorist who is found guilty of dangerous driving to have a black box fitted and monitored by the relevant authorities for a period of at least two years.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Transport in collaboration with the Caribbean Maritime University hosted the region’s inaugural symposium on “traffic crash investigation and black box analysis” in August 2019. However, I am not aware if there have been any concrete outcomes from this symposium. It is imperative that prompt action is taken to improve driving habits that motorists, in particular PPVS, have on our roads, which continues to result in unnecessary deaths and injuries.

H Edwards yabbyyoo@gmail.com