Car insurers should not depend on black boxes

Car insurers should not depend on the data collected by event data recorders (EDR) boxes, as the reasons behind a driver's actions will not be recorded, according to the RAC Foundation .

Philip Gomm, a spokesperson for the organisation, also expressed concern about the expense of introducing the boxes being levied against the drivers as "safety should not be an expensive, optional extra". He added that the government should foot part of the bill as society will benefit from a reduced number of accidents .

EDR will store the speed and actions of the driver, such as breaking and indicating, reported The Telegraph, citing research by the European Commission. It would also monitor any changes in acceleration and record the 30 seconds before a crash and 15 seconds after. This information can then be downloaded by the police .

Earlier this year, The Office for National Statistics reported that in 2007 the total number of road fatalities had fallen by seven per cent when compared to the previous year.