The Ontario Provincial Police have been using these for about 6 years. Thats how long they have been in some cars.
Some interesting notes here:
http://www.tarorigin.com/ARnews/ARnews6-99/0919.htmlApparently the OPP took the time to crash 4 vehicles to independently verify (with separate instrumentation) how well the recorders would assist reconstruction. Another article here:
http://www.accidentreconstruction.com/news/mar01/031901c.aspdiscusses the use to determine how severe an accident was (the car left a bridge, and the accelerometer could determine how quickly it stopped when hitting the ground).
I've also heard of cases where left-turning drivers who were struck claim the oncoming straight-through vehicle was going too quickly. The black box data confirmed this was not the case.
It sounds like the taxi recorders are like current car recorders - a crash triggers a lock in of the previous 5 seconds worth of info. As I understand it, at all other times, they continuously loop over the 5 seconds. So - if you were pulled over while just driving, the last 5 seconds will be the low speed of you pulling off to the shoulder. Not to incriminating there...
As always, watch for technology changes...
