The installation in cars of black-box technology, more normally associated with aircraft crash investigation has attracted the interest of the Minister for Transport.
Mr Brennan said "Black box" technology has huge potential, not only in the crucial area of road safety, but also as regards compliance with the law, traffic management and free-flow tolling.
The Minister for Transport says his department is closely monitoring a pilot scheme in Australia, in which accident black-box recorders are being fitted to cars as part of a campaign to get dangerous drivers off the road.
The government in the Australian state of Victoria is assessing the devices to monitor and record driver behaviour in the 30 seconds before an impact and the 15 seconds afterwards.
The black-box monitors the car's speed at the time of the accident, the position of the accelerator, when the brakes were applied, who was wearing a seat belt and when the airbag deployed. It even records indicator signals and movement in the steering wheel.
In theory, the black-box can figure out if the driver was speeding or braked too late, or whether the car swerved before the collision. That information may then reveal who was at fault in an crash and may be used to reconstruct incidents and provide evidence in court.
Because the technology used for aircraft black-boxes has been around so long the cost of a version for a car , is less than €500 and can be installed under the seat or under the rear window shelf.
Overseas experience showed the boxes encouraged drivers to behave better because they were under potential scrutiny and in the US the use of such devices has led to convictions.
In Florida last week a 47 year-old man was sentenced to 30 years in prison for "manslaughter and vehicular homicide" in relation to the deaths of two teenage girls who pulled out of a driveway into his path in a 30 mph zone in a Fort Lauderdale suburb.
At his trial Edwin Matos testified he was driving at about 60 mph, the state's accident investigator calculated his speed to be 98 mph. The electronic data recorder in Matos' car showed his peak speed was 114 mph in the seconds before the crash.
Since 1999 all GM vehicles in the US have black-box type devices programmed to record about five seconds of pre-crash information to learn more about how to improve crash performance.
However, the black-boxes have the potential to become one of the most contentious issues in the car industry.
Safety researchers see the technology as an excellent way to get more detail on what happens in an accident and use it to improve safety. Insurance companies see it a way to determine who is at fault in an accident and whether seat belts were used. But to civil liberty groups black-box technology in cars is Orwellian and if misused could constitute a threat to individual privacy.
A version of the "black box" technology is being offered by one insurance company to young male drivers in exchange for a reduction in the premium charged. AXA's Tracker scheme encourages the young driver to drive safely and within the speed limits. The on-board nanny records any aberration and at the end of each month, a statement is sent to the driver.
If the recorded information shows the car has been driven in an unsafe manner warnings are issued up to and including removing the driver from the scheme.