Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:

> They cannot gather a scrap of evidence from an inpounded vehicle
> without a search warrant. And unless there is probable cause for
> a warrant to be issued, it won't be issued.

Your entire premise about police not necessarily having free and
unfettered access to black-box car data is largely false.

What will stop cops from routinely making cursory (exagerated)
observations of incidents or accident scenes and hence pretty much
always getting search warrants whenever they ask for them?

This touches on the similar tactic of stopping someone for a driving
infraction (real or trumped up) and then the cop calls a buddy with a
K-9 unit who takes the dog for an innocent walk around the car. If
the dog thinks he smells drugs, well then what do we have now?
Illegal search without a warrant? Probable cause?

If cops make up reasons to get search warrants (to search cars or to
get black box data) then there should be consequences to null
discoveries just as there are consequences to positive discoveries (of
drugs, of speeding prior to an accident).

There should be a negative consequence to a cop who discovers nothing
based on a bogus search by his buddy's K-9 unit.