I don't usually read the St. Louis Communist Post Dispatch, but this headline caught my eye.

Auto manufacturer's GM,FORD, Izuzu, and SAAB are installing "black boxes" that record speed, brake usage, and other driver info. While these manufacturer's claim to only use the information for "safety" statiistics, law enforcement is using them to prosecute drivers involved in accidents. The worst part is that driver's don't even know their cars are equiped with the devices.

I find it very interesting that the majority of the GM cars having the devices also have OnStar as an option or as standard equipment.

Article here:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... &Headline=“Black+box”+tells+how+you’ve+been+driving&highlight=2%2Cblack%2Cbox

List of Vehicles with Device:
http://www.harristechnical.com

[edit]
I just got off the phone with Chevy (my car is on the list), they told me that there is no such device. I guess I've got a project for this weekend. Find the box and disconnect it.

Shit, my car has one. How do i remove it? Of course i'd rather keep it since it appears that it also runs my airbags....

i doubt you could remove it, unless your airbag control module can easily be swapped with one from an older model without the black box, but messing with the airbags isn't a good idea at all.

my car doesnt have one so Im glad.

Which is why i wouldn't/won't mess with it. I like having airbags, lol.

?!?! wtf

This guy is refering to the idea that many concervatives have about the Post being far to liberal. It does have a SLIGHT liberal slant, but not that much--certainly not to the extent of calling it Communist. There a papers that are far more liberal leaning than the post, and unfortunatley we don't have much choice here in rolla. If an arguement could be made it should be made about the disproportionate amount of bad writing the SLPD does, that would be an acceptable arguement. Does anyone else notice that there is too much non-news items covered? Take the sports and everyday section as glittering examples. How many people read the sports and not the news? If i wanted to start a mud flingin contest, I could ague that Mr. St. Louis Communist Post Dispatch is one of those people.

By the way, my truck, a 2004 Ford Ranger apparently has one of these horrid little devices in it. Anyone who finds out how to disable/remove them should post about it. It does however not specify as to what the box my car actually does...

haha, my car's not in there

my brand new car isn't in there either! yay for foreign hybrids with american cars...... hahah.... the vibe will never have that shit in it!

and if you want to disable it im pretty sure you can disconnect the fucker and reattatch wires that pass through, get diagrams first. i can help anyone that needs it. and as for airbags if you disconnect the battery and let it sit for an hour then it shouldn't go off i dont care what happens.

The issue isnt really the airbags going off while your working, but if the blackbox is built into the airbag control module (which makes sense since that module deals with crashes) your only option would be to remove the airbag module and you wouldnt have airbags in a crash. Not to mention that it would certainly trigger your Airbag malfunction light on your dash and I doubt your car would pass safety inspection with a light like that on. Its possible that an aftermarket company would come out with a replacement airbag module for your car without the blackbox, but I couldn't imagine that being cheap

So for the people with it, sucks for you but I dont think you have any options.

my car and my parents car (both 2004 Hyundais) don't have the blackbox, yay

SLIGHT slant? Are you kidding me?
The week of the elections the SLCPD ran a quarter page "election guide" stating who should be elected and didn't state any candidate positions. Who did the paper want elected? The Dem's and green party.

That paper is worthless unless you read the comics or run out of toilet paper.

Every fucking newspaper does that. Just as every news channel "projects" winners. They're not saying who should be elected, they're calling the winners.

As for these devices in your car, who cares? I bet by disconnecting these you'll do more harm to yourself or your car than leaving them in there. Or better yet, don't do 85 mph and rear-end someone in the first place.

At least Pin2Hot has some logic. He is totally correct about EVERY form of media having their own slant. I do however remember the post's editorial (remember what an editorial is, an opinion) recomending certain people. I don't have a copy of any of those, but I do remember them recomending a few republicans when the democrats were horribly inadiquate. (But aren't ALL polititions horribly inadiquate?) However, like Pin2Hot said, EVERY paper does this. I recomend that you take some time and read about how media controles opinions, and there is no such thing (as I would assume you would claim, tell me if I am wronge and I will appoligize) of a liberal slant in the media. (FOX News, Wall Street Journal, Rush, O'Reily, and the list goes on and on) For some good info on this stuff, try reading some Noam Chomsky. I have a copy of his "Manufacturing Consent" video that covers this type of thing quite well. (I'm sure you know how to "borrow" it from me.) To sum up, it isn't even about if a media outlet has a bias, but that ALL media has inherit bias. Therefor, refuting any source totally, without evidence that they flat out lie, is the worst possible thing one can do. The only way to overcome--to an extent--this bias is to get news from as many sources as possible.
I could go on, but this is college and I need to do some studying.

I think we have a communication problem, I already agree with most of what you said above. Except, I do think there is a liberal slant (you indicate the same in your original post "It has a SLIGHT liberal slant"). My calling the paper communist is a joke not an actual belief so let's not take it too seriously folks. Not to sound hostile but, I have neither the time nor the inclination to build an evidentiary case against each publication I choose not to read because I question their reporting bias. If I run out of toilet paper and one of those publications is present I will wipe my ass with it.

I will check out Chomsky.

As for the purpose of my orginal post:
I'm always "on-guard" and against orwellian devices and programs, not against solving a problem like accidents caused by excessive speed.

black boxes == bad for arresting people

And the SLCPD has to be less communist than the Minneapolis Star and Sickle.

so if you dont drive bad then you have nothing to worry about...quit crying!