Sci Fi No More: Cars That Fight Thieves

20 GM Models Will Slow Down When Stolen; OnStar Might License The Technology

(AP)  Say some clown steals your car from the parking lot while you are hard at work.

If it's equipped with General Motors' OnStar service, he could be in for a big surprise and you could get a little revenge - and even see your car again.

Starting with about 20 models for 2009, the service will be able to slowly halt a car that is reported stolen, and the radio may even speak up and tell the thief to pull over because police are watching.

OnStar already finds 700 to 800 cars per month using the global positioning system. With the new technology, which OnStar President Chet Huber said GM will apply to the rest of its lineup in future years, OnStar would call police and tell them a stolen car's whereabouts.

Then, if officers see the car in motion and judge it can be stopped safely, they can tell OnStar operators, who will send the car a signal via cell phone to slow it to a halt.

"This technology will basically remove the control of the horsepower from the thief," Huber said. "Everything else in the vehicle works. The steering works. The brakes work."

GM is still exploring the possibility of having the car give a recorded verbal warning before it stops moving. A voice would tell the driver through the radio speakers that police will stop the car, Huber said, and the car's emergency flashers would go on.

"If the thief does nothing else it will coast to a stop. But they can drive off to the side of the road," Huber said.

With the current version of OnStar, drivers can call operators for emergency help, and OnStar operators will contact a car if its sensors detect a crash. The service has about 5 million subscribers.

Those who want OnStar but don't like police having the ability to slow down their car can opt out of the service, Huber said. But he said their research shows that 95 percent of subscribers would like that feature.

OnStar, including the first year's subscription fee, is standard on most of GM's 2008 vehicles. After the first year, the subscription price is $16.95 a month or $199 annually for basic service, which is to include the stolen-vehicle slowdown feature when it's available.

GM would be willing to sell the technology to other automakers in an effort to cut police chases, Huber said.

The new technology likely gives OnStar and GM a leg-up on competitors that market vehicle tracking devices aimed at retrieving stolen vehicles, said Jack Nerad, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book in Irvine, Calif. He predicted being able to stop a stolen car would appeal to consumers.

"Once they hear it can be done, I think it will get considerable play," he said.

LoJack Corp., of Westwood, Mass., produces vehicle tracking devices that help authorities locate stolen vehicles but not communicate with them. And SPAL USA in Ankeny, Iowa, sells an anti-car-jacking system with a personal identification transmitter that prevents thieves from using the vehicle.

If it spreads, the technology could make dangerous police chases a thing of the past. Last year, 404 people were killed nationwide in crashes involving police pursuits, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In California, for example, there were 7,633 police pursuits in 2006, leading to 27 deaths and 771 injuries, according to data from the California Highway Patrol. Those figures represented a decline from 2005, when California authorities were involved in 7,950 pursuits, which were linked to 32 deaths and 1,201 injuries.

Joe Farrow, deputy commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, said about 15 percent of the pursuits are at speeds of 90 miles per hour and greater. The OnStar system could help chases end safely, he said.

Farrow said his agency has sought public-private partnerships that could improve technologies used in police pursuits. The OnStar system was intriguing, he said.

"There are some high-speed chases that we have out here that we'd like to bring to a halt," he said.

Farrow said CHP officers are trained on pursuits every three months and the agency has worked to improve its chase policies.

OnStar's technology could evolve and perhaps make a stolen car impossible to start, Huber said.

"This isn't the last announcement you'll hear from us in this category," he said.

[michellem99-2009]

Good.

[dbstevens]

I think this is a wonderful idea...but we have to think about what will develop from this. The next thing is that police will slow down cars they think are speeding. Okay, that''s fine. But then they''ll start installing automatic devices along roadways that keep a car from going over a certain speed....governing the speed of vehicles. This might not be a bad thing, but before we embrace this technology, we NEED to think about where it might lead. We''re already giving up a lot of our freedom and control to others in the name of "convenience" and "cool features." "Big Brother" might be a bit later than 1984 arriving, but let''s stay alert....

[brianbwb-2009]

Even bet that 90% of cars stopped by police will belong to "Black" people, and stopped just for the sake of facilitating harassment.

This is the problem with letting people have such controls, they will be misused from day one.

[oeangus]

Even bet that 90% of cars stopped by police will belong to "Black" people, and stopped just for the sake of facilitating harassment....Posted by brianbwb

Wow, that has to be one of the dumbest posts I''ve read on this forum. If you''re concerned about racism, stop making racist statements like this, bub.

[drinuk]

Speed restrictors are outright dangerous, in whatever form but "outside" influence is crazy and will without doubt lead to serious abuse and accidents. Until Wi - Fi
can be made 100% secure this idea is just silly. On the other hand, how long before the thief starts "Jamming" devices, truck locator''s can now be rendered useless by wrapping the antenna in cooking foil.

[stve4]

The problem here is that, who would steal a GM?

[Krazcarl]

*** there making it tough for me to outrun the police.

[hdradio]

My car communicates with me via the internet over its 3G cellular always on connection. Not only can I track the car precisely from wherever I happen to be, I can "re-flash" the engine management computer with different instructions with one click of my mouse. The "Vallet" mode flash is prefect for such a situation. This is on a car that was produced in 1988. No On-star subscription fees required. It uses a CarPC and an Xtronics EPROM Emulator attached to the cars PCM.

[mitch0927]

They better start hiding the antenna for the ONSTAR, that''s all a person needs to do, is rip the onstar antenna off.....

[lc012]

My car has OnStar, but it will not work after the end of the year. OnStar is going digital and is not supporting many cars with their old technology. If you buy a car with OnStar, be aware that they can change the technology and refuse to support the old technology. I do not want to buy a new car to continue to have OnStar service.

[extremophil]

I''m waiting for a car that will scratch my butt for me.

[usayesterday]

If the service could allow for remote driving of the car... I''d pay a lot extra $$$ to have the car drive (the hoodlum who stole it) right off a cliff or bridge! Sure, I''d lose my car, but the insurance would take care of that. As long as the criminal is wiped off the face of this earth, that''s worth the extra money!

Oh, he brought his friends with him...


...TOO BAD!

[nolalou]

USAyesterday,

Not a bad idea, but he might have hostages with him, or may be forcing someone to drive at gunpoint, so I guess we could settle for the car automatically driving to the nearest police station, and let them sort it out. (but of course, that assumes the cops won''t just start shooting and ask questions later!)

[navyretired2]

"This might not be a bad thing, but before we embrace this technology, we NEED to think about where it might lead. We''''re already giving up a lot of our freedom and control to others in the name of "convenience" and "cool features."

In my opinion, freedom and control doesn''t mean, "go ahead and break the law all you want as long as we''re not looking." I think if you break a law in public, you don''t have a leg to stand on, whether a camera took a picture of you speeding or whatnot. We''re still responsible to be decent citizens, and can be held accountable if not. Besides, they''ll never restrict speeds for a car, too many cops own their own vehicles :)

I really like this idea OnStar has going here, and it''s "OPTIONAL" to buy a car with this function.

[rick_vt]

I wish GM was putting this money into better products i.e. better milage, better dependability. I tried going back to GM a few years ago after many years with "foreign" cars. The top-of-the-line Saturn I bought was the worst thing I had ever owned - poorly made and dreadful to drive. I''ll never go back regardless of the gee-wiz junk they wire inside it.

[softspoken99]

I''ll buy that fer a dollar.

[toolmangler-2009]

Posted by HDRadio at 08:46 AM : Oct 09, 2007

Wonder what would happen if you got a portable GDO and beat against the signal?

[michellem99-2009]

I saw a TV ad where the car talks to yer computer by e mail but they got to stop them car stealers is what I met by my 1st that said good.

[incog-nito]

A better solution is have a spring-loaded fist that comes flying out of the steering wheel. Now THAT''s car that truly fights thieves.