Black box that’s designed for a crash course
Blacktrack, based in Colburn in North Yorkshire, created the device with Axa in order to deter risky driving, particularly among the young. The battery-powered device will typically have enough power for five years and will record enough information for accidents to be reconstructed.
Ian Armstrong, from Blacktrack, said the new technology acts as a crash recorder and a phone, so it automatically calls the insurance company within one minute of an accident to provide basic details of what has happened. A full report of the crash is then downloaded to the insurer’s website within ten minutes, which helps to detect exaggerated or fraudulent claims.
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Mr Armstrong, a physicist, said: “It will take the rest of the year to get it into production. We have done a good demonstration with prototype hardware and there has been quite a lot of interest.”
The device was developed with the Swiss-based Winterthur arm of insurance giant Axa. It will be sold to insurance companies and also on the high street, where it will sell for £100 to £120.
Blacktrack, privately owned and which has four staff, turns over £600,000 and has kept manufacturing in Bradford.