Similar to the black boxes that the airlines have used for years, car insurance companies have now started to make black box video recorders available to their policyholders. The video recorders are designed to help show who is at fault in an accident and fight off fraudulent claims.

Auto insurance companies say that fraud has escalated 70% in the past three years alone. It show no signs of slowing down, especially during these difficult economic times.

Known as the “Roadhawk”, these kits are pretty easy to have installed, and work much like those found in airplanes, with a few exceptions.

The box not only records video, but it also provides the GPS location of the car or truck and the actual speed it is traveling.

According to Larry Smith of Towergate Insurance, “After an accident, witnesses will often claim to have seen something different. But the cameras give us the ability to determine liability because you can’t argue in a court of law against video footage”.

At the moment the recorders are not mandatory, but that could soon change as lawmakers begin debating on whether to make installations on all cars a must. This has been brought to the forefront in recent months due to the massive Toyota brake problems that have been in the news. Toyota ended up recalling over 8 million cars because of acceleration issues with the gas pedal.

There are other uses for these recorders as well, such as having the ability to see your local mechanic working on your vehicle, or even having the video in the event the car is stolen and later recovered.

Many insurers are giving the recorders out to new customers as an enticement to take out a car insurance policy with their company.