The Tiwi black box a vehicle is something that makes me thankful that it did not exist when I was younger and far more ignorant than I am today(if that is possible). The Tiwi incorporates a GPS and cellular connectivity, and monitors your teenaged driver for fast driving. The unit starts with a verbal warning when the speed is excessive, but if the reckless driving continues the unit calls good old mom and dad.
The price is a bit steep at $549 and $35 monthly, but that isn’t the problem. I am fairly confident that an average teenager with an Internet connection would figure out a way to bypass the unit, and then it could be considered a ticket to drive fast. It comes down to a false sense of security, which is worse than no security at all.
However, I am to see such units come on the market for this reason – you can buy a non-descript black box with a flashing light, stick it on the dash, and tell your teenaged driver that it is a driving habit monitor with a cell phone connection. It will be effective for about the same period of time, and much cheaper. That is, unless you feel confident that they would not tamper with the unit, in which case you would probably would be better off saving your money to start with.
More information at the Tiwi website.
