WASHINGTON -Safety and Medical experts say highway safety could be vastly improved if black boxes that record information about car crashes were standardized. An immediate benefit, they say, would be fewer deaths. Advocates of the standard say objections from the automobile industry are thwarting efforts to set a standard. The companies say they are defending the privacy of drivers.

The boxes are small and inexpensive recording devices connected to the system that deploys the air bags. They record crash information including how fast a vehicle was moving, whether the seat belts were buckled and how big a jolt the occupants suffered at impact.

(via New York Times)