THE European Union is drawing up plans for aircraft-style black box recorders to be fitted to all cars to help the police identify who is responsible for crashes.

A £2.4m, three-year study commissioned by the European commission’s transport arm has recommended the mandatory installation of the boxes in all cars. They will record 20 types of data, including speed, the car’s most recent movements and whether the driver braked or indicated.

The information will be used by police and insurance firms to reconstruct crashes and determine who was at fault. It could then be used in court cases. Insurers would be able to expose bogus claimants by checking their account of an accident against what really happened.

Researchers believe the technology will improve safety. The study, called Project Veronica, found drivers with black boxes were 10% less likely to be involved in a fatal accident, and their repair bills fell by as much as 25%.

Ralf Schmidt-Cotta, director of the study, which is being carried out at the German car-parts group Continental, said: “The technology is like an independent, neutral witness. For police and insurance companies, it will be invaluable.

“It will also revolutionise road safety because of the psychological impact of having the boxes installed. Drivers know they cannot get away with simple excuses after an accident because their movements are recorded. They therefore drive more carefully.”

The boxes, which cost about £500, are little bigger than a pack of cards and are fitted behind the dashboard or under the floor. They are connected to sensors that monitor the car’s movements.

They are triggered by sharp changes in speed or the inflation of an airbag, allowing them to record collisions with pedestrians and cars. To allay privacy concerns they will keep only data recorded for 30 seconds before a crash and 15 seconds afterwards. The boxes will also alert emergency services to an accident.

In Britain, the boxes are installed as standard in many emergency vehicles. When the Metropolitan police put them in 3,500 of their cars in 1999 there was a £2m reduction in accident costs in 18 months.They are also used in some newer models of car, although the data are not standardised.

In America, black boxes became widespread after manufacturers agreed to adopt them on a voluntary basis. They are now standard in more than two-thirds of new vehicles.

Both motoring groups and the government are concerned about their use in the EU. The Department for Transport said it had concerns about privacy and legal issues, while a spokesman for the AA warned that making black boxes mandatory would be impractical.

He said: “The practicalities are horrendous. Who pays for it? Will it integrate with the car’s other features? This is a technology which needs to evolve on a voluntary basis.”

Schmidt-Cotta dismissed privacy concerns. He said: “We are not monitoring these vehicles for 24 hours, just for 45 seconds during a collision. It would simply provide the police with better data to investigate crimes.”