All new cars may soon be fitted with a black box to record your speed – and it’ll be used to convict you

ALL NEW cars may be fitted with a black box, specifically to record speed before, during and after road accidents.

The proposal was made by the European Council for every new passenger vehicle and van made in the EU.

It will now be considered before the European Parliament, with a date yet to be set.

However, the Council says it hopes to reach a “rapid agreement” in terms of any negotiated changes to the proposal.

Whether black box information will be used in any other circumstance or conviction apart from collisions is unknown.

Although, the EU specified that it will not be possible for drivers to turn off or suppress the devices.

As a bare minimum the tracker will log the vehicle’s speed and the state of its safety systems.

The information may then be used by insurers and local authorities to determine the outcome of accidents – for example, who’s to blame.

So if you were driving over the speed limit, you could be named at fault and possibly convicted.

A suggested amendment by Czech MEP Kateřina Konečná stated that the data should also be made available to national authorities for the purpose of accident analysis – but only after relevant identification details are removed.

Norbert Hofer – Austrian Federal Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Technology – said: “We must never let up in our efforts to make our roads safer for everyone.

“These new rules, which reflect the latest technical developments, will protect and help save lives.”

Drivers currently install black boxes into their cars at the request of some insurance policies.

The telematics are then used to determine the possibility of a lower premium based on driving skill – but, many cover providers will not increase the cost if driving ability is found to be poor.

Black boxes are simple to plug into cars, either in the engine bay, under the glovebox or in the boot depending on the make of the device and car model.