[Viscount Charles]

A black box in my car, spying on my every move? I'd expected it of the government (they have plans in the pipeline already), but not of the "motorist's friend", his insurer - surely not!

Does the black box record that although I was doing 95mph on the motorway, there were no other cars at all? Will it send details of that journey to the Police? What if the Police *demand* its disclosure?

And can the black box tell if those short, safe journeys I'm taking were done while tired, or with failing (but as yet undiagnosed) eyesight? Is the motorist who does 20,000 miles a year on the motorway really more likely to claim than the school run drivers parking two-deep outside the local primary school (and if so, has the government been informed? Because last I heard, the DoT were still plugging motorways as one of the safest ways to travel)? Might it lead to "vehicular ghettos", where the premium for driving through a high-risk zone is so high we drive around it instead?

Given the number of poor drivers (in both senses of the word) isn't this another disinsentive to be properly insured?

Oh dear - either I've gone mad or the rest of the world has. The scarey part is that this must be technologically achievable, as one insurer is running trials right now.

Trialed as a money-saving measure for the prudent motorist, why do I think we'll *all* end up paying more? For the cost of the black boxes and satellite bandwidth, if nothing else.