Glitch Alert: 'But officer, I was within the speed limit.'

More bad news for Toyota came out yesterday with yet another glitch in the system.  This one is in the crash data boxes and shows inaccurate speeds.  In the testing, the glitches show that some vehicles were going faster than they actually were.

Toyota says the problem has been corrected and that all of the event data in the black box was accurate with the one exception being the recorded speed.  Toyota also  stands by their statement that the 13 million auto recalls in the past year were not the result of a glitch. Rather, they were caused by sticky pedals and floor mats.  Possible, I suppose, though somewhat hard to fully believe in light of the extensive federal investigations into the matter.

Perhaps it was the combination of human and technical glitches that got the best of Toyota over the past year.  In any event, this latest glitch brings to light the advent of black boxes in automobiles. Taking a page from the airlines, auto manufacturers are on track to equip cars with black-boxes to record driving speed, impact, and other critical factors when recreating the scene of an accident. While this technology already exists to some degree, it is will be more mainstream within the next few years.

Depending on the accuracy of the data in the black boxes, the implications can be enormous in terms of insurance claims and lawsuits. This is why close attention needs to be paid as the technology is being developed to support the development and installation of black boxes in automobiles.

After all, as more technology is introduced into automobiles, there is also a higher propensity for glitches to occur.  While we have certainly come to appreciate all the bells and whistles in today's cars which become safer with every new model, there's also something to be said about just how closely we oversee the amounts and quality of software code that's being installed in autos.

Consider the fact that since the introduction of technology into vehicles 30 years ago, the number of electronic system recalls in the U.S. has tripled.  Another interesting fact is that today's modern luxury car contains close to 100 million lines of software code.  Without the right amount of IT governance, any string that goes awry in those 100 million lines could have a massive impact on the public.

It's certainly something to think about as the 2011 auto buying season is upon us.  I actually delve a bit deeper into this issue in the book "Glitch: The Hidden Impact of Faulty Software" which includes insight from Ford Motor Company on the role of IT governance in ensuring safety in automobile manufacturing.