The General Motors’ OnStar system, BMW’s ConnectedDrive and Ford’s Sync provide very detailed information about the actions of cars, including location and direction of travel at given times. Used in connection with vehicle black boxes, cellphone information and airbag modules, the telematics can produce very precise analysis of crashes or other events.

Intriguing

Don Slavik, a product liability lawyer, has worked on problems about unintended acceleration in vehicles. ‘It certainly is an intriguing new thing,’ he says of telematics. ‘We've just learned about the large volume of data going through systems. Not just one or 10 or 20 pieces of data, but thousands of pieces of data that are reported.’ Ford has confirmed that it has received court orders ‘on behalf of law enforcement or individuals involved in litigation’ to provide data from ‘various vehicle modules’.  Source: AutoNews