He witnessed a lot of fatal road accidents and twisted car wrecks.

“Back then I wished that there was some device that could help monitor vehicles’ routes, and let drivers know when they exceed the speed limit,” Anh, the now director of Hanoi-based Binh Anh Electronics Co. said.

So he started to research how to design the device with members of a Vietnamese electronics forum at www.dientuvietnam.com and a group from the National Center for Technological Progress under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The group then established their own company to develop electronics products in July, 2007, and six months later released the device that Anh had dreamed about.

Their black box for cars was a combination of Global Positioning System (GPS), Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies.

At a cost of US$350 to install and operation fees of some VND80,000 ($4.65) monthly, transport companies can keep track of their vehicles at anytime, Anh said.

Pham Hong Son, who is in charge of the Observation Department at Tan Dat Bus Control Center – one of Anh’s company’s biggest customers - said the new technology gives them regular updates about all their vehicles, with about 10 different parameters including location, speed and fuel.

The black box prevents drivers from cheating their company, for example by letting bosses know if any components have been switched, Anh added.

The box can also help car rental companies avoid customers fraudulently selling their cars, according to Anh.

They can order the vehicle to stop if they suspect the customer of fraud, or trace it if it gets stolen, through GIS, a director of a vehicle rental company said.

Another attractive feature of the black box, special for Vietnam bus tours, is that during north-south trips, the box can act as a tour guide broadcasting folk songs and give a running commentary.

Reported by Truong Son