MOTORISTS will be forced to have spy in the car technology which will track their speeds and driving habits or face sky high insurance premiums.

The devices, similar to the black boxes on planes, will be fitted as standard on all new cars under EU regulations from next October.

The so-called “telematics” technology will enable insurers to keep track of how fast their customers drive, how hard they brake and how many journeys a year they undertake.

If they refuse to take part, drivers will face huge increases in their annual insurance premiums. Research by the industry predicts that about half of all cars – including used vehicles – will be fitted with the devices by 2020.

Andy Watson, chief insurer of the Ageas Group, said: “The ability to have telematics will become mainstream because the technology will be in the car. It means the amount of data available to insurers increases dramatically.”

Tom Ellis, of Gocompare, added: “There will be customers who prefer not to have a device installed but it will be an opt out situation rather than an opt in.

“There will be reasons for people opting out – perhaps because they are bad drivers, or unhappy with the privacy element or have an old car, but they will have to accept a higher insurance premium.”

The device was invented to help the emergency services trace crash vehicles. Pete Williams, of the RAC, said the introduction of the devices was inevitable.

He added: “For the vast majority of motorists it will be a good thing with regard to things like safety and vehicle recovery.”

The Department of Transport commissioned research into telematics earlier this year,

A spokesman said: “We want to see how effective it can be in improving driver behaviour and reducing accident risk.” ====================================

"Open Mike Night " sounded like a lot of fun until i found out i was going to an Autopsy

It had to come

Sooner or later

Dave Current : 4.2 S/C, now Sold
Previous : V70 Volvo, S40 Volvo ( a very reliable old banger ), E39 M5, Carlton Diplomat and the list goes on

Life Sucks but ya just have to do the best you can with what you have !

Anything that is fitted to a car can be "disconnected".

The tech has been there for ages , they just haven't used it yet as for being disconnected you can bet they have a way of either stopping you or disabling the car  Current : 4.2 S/C, now Sold
Previous : V70 Volvo, S40 Volvo ( a very reliable old banger ), E39 M5, Carlton Diplomat and the list goes on

Life Sucks but ya just have to do the best you can with what you have !

just buy an older car, like a l322.. ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

Give those politicians and civil servants time enough and the mega companies power enough and we will have a "black box" in our arm, in our toilet, in our kitchen and our wallet. The only place you will be free is in your mind and given the influence of pharmaceutical industry even that will be dealth with in time.
Goodmorning brave new world.

^^ +1  Current : 4.2 S/C, now Sold
Previous : V70 Volvo, S40 Volvo ( a very reliable old banger ), E39 M5, Carlton Diplomat and the list goes on

Life Sucks but ya just have to do the best you can with what you have !

beware of 'skynet' Robert..  ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

Think I'll travel about on horse back.....what they going to do then, put one of them black boxes up the horses a  If it dont work.......burn it!

If the IId tool cant fix it.......burn the FF.

If the FF cant be fixed......buy a Land Cruiser!

If the LC cant be fixed..............................................BUY a horse !!

I imagine having my driving style and speed details sent to my insurance company will require a slight alteration in driving style for me,,, maybe slight is an understatement.

Funny thing is I already drive a car with a telemetrics system installed by the car manufacturer. It keeps a record of trips economy speeds etc but its not given to my insurance company.

Don't worry Stan, I'll find and impregnate my own Sarah....

 ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
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And of course not forgetting that unless you disconnect your GPS antenna from your sat nav, the car will always keep track of your whereabouts in its memory, even if you're not using it for guidance.

There's a forensic company who can remove the sat nav from your car (in the event of some serious misdemeanor obviously) and tell the authorities that you were where you said you weren't!  Got - 2017 SDV8 Autobiography in Loire Blue
Had- 2008 TDV8 Vogue SE in Java black
Had - 2007 S/C in Stornoway Grey

^Doubtful. For a ROM (DVD) based system that has no volatile memory (DVD Drive) it leaves little scope for storage of such data.

Besides, with a gazillion cameras all round the country they will use that data for those events.

The onboard telematics on even the most modern car are extremely limited and hence why insurers offer the "Black Box" type of policy, especially to younger drivers to make them drive more carefully, but actually, what they're currently trying to get to is a "Pay-as-you-drive" type of policy which is based on miles driven and roads used to evaluate risk and thus cost.

I won't be having such a box fitted anytime soon, not with a large commute (over 200 miles a day) and mainly using high speed roads to do that commute. Chist, I'd never afford it.

Oh yes, the above info may or may not be based on having worked on a large account which may or may not be based in Norfolk somewhere.