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Does anyone know what the insurance black boxes monitor, record and to what accuracy?

I have been told minor speed infringement on a straight road is not a concern but cornering speed, cornering line and gear selection are more of a concern. I would assume that for cornering line the position accuracy would have to be better than 50cm, especially to determine if the centre line is crossed, which makes me wonder what is the map accuracy.

I'd be very surprised if they were able to detect centre line infractions.

If I had to guess (perhaps not totally uneducated, but still in the realms of guesswork), it would be:
- Times. Penalize people who drive at night.
- Where you drive. Towns might have more insurance claims. Rural roads might have more crashes.
- Speed. I'd certainly not want to significantly exceed the speed limit with one fitted. (For example, a bit old but see http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/ing ... 005042.ece)
- Acceleration (including lateral / braking).

As for how they might weight / judge them; I haven't the foggiest.

Only anecdotal experience (people talking about them on another forum where boxes were imposed on company vehicles) - both firm acceleration and braking are judged. Cornering speed indirectly (ie g-force). I'd be surprised if lines can be followed. Obviously speed too (though I suspect they'll ignore 35 in a 30 but frown on 70 in a 60).

As for where the good/bad lines in the sand are - AFAIK it's completely arbitrary. I guess as they accrue more data they could start looking for outliers rather than absolutes, but at the moment I imagine it's only absolute numbers they are looking at.

I doubt most of these devices are much more than an accelerometer and a means of recording then uploading data.

Most of these devices are fitted to very low powered cars, so it is hard to see how use of maximum acceleration could be identified as a negative.

waremark wrote:Most of these devices are fitted to very low powered cars, so it is hard to see how use of maximum acceleration could be identified as a negative.

In the case I know of, the chap had a Lotus Evora through his company car scheme

jont- wrote:Cornering speed indirectly (ie g-force).

does your car choice affect how much g-force there is on the black box - rolling range rover v. very flat caterham around a corner?

Alasdair

akirk wrote:does your car choice affect how much g-force there is on the black box - rolling range rover v. very flat caterham around a corner?

Alasdair

Other than the Range Rover would have fallen over by the time it reached the g forces the Caterham could generate.

It's just this sort of thing that makes pure figures meaningless. Numbers in a spreadsheet don't always equate to how a passenger would feel.

They all have their own 'proprietary' algorithms but usually measure: g-force, speed, speed related to speed limit, time of day, type of road being used.

I've not heard of any measuring gear selection or cornering line (other than simple g-force).

Some cynics say they have little affect other than encouraging self-selection of safer drivers i.e. any drivers who know they push the limits, don't want anything to do with a black box.

Others say they are little more than a marketing tool.

The data collected is definately sold on to interested parties, so black boxes are a revenue earner.

For gear selection probably possible on an auto with a management module, but would this have to be car make specific?

Although these black boxes are aimed at the younger generation I have not got one for my son who has passed the IAM test.

Not sure if drivers will be rewarded for good driving or just slapped on the wrist for driving outside the black box parameters.