Susan Winlaw Canwest News Service

'Stolen Vehicle Slowdown' General Motors and its OnStar safety and security network recently debuted a service in Canada that allows the police to slow down a stolen car so they can recover it and capture the people who took it.

 

The owner reports the car stolen, OnStar locates it using the Global Positioning System, tells the police where it is and brings it to a gentle stop when the police are ready.Stolen Vehicle Slowdown would be wonderfully useful if it only got your car back, but it becomes an even greater service if there's something particularly valuable in the car, such as your purse, the family's Christmas presents or even a sleeping child or a pet. For this alone the truly safety-conscious person would have to think hard about not getting a GM car with OnStar, but, of course, the service has a raft of other helpful technologies designed to keep you safe. Remote door opening is good, but the primo technology has to be automatic crash response, which sends help to your precise location even if you're unable to call for help. A basic OnStar package called Safe & Sound will deliver the vehicle slowdown technology, and that's usually free for the first year on a new GM model. After that you have to pay an annual subscription fee of $289, or $24.95 a month.
(original link)

THE DOCTOR: Classic example of loss of freedoms and liberty being sold to the public as something that will keep them safe. If someone steals your car and you report it to the police and they stop your car so they can go arrest those who stole it, they can obviously stop the car in cases where it wasn't reported, or stolen, at all. In a package called "Safe and Sound" too. Soon if you are speeding or look suspicious, a police officer won't need to use lights or sirens, as he will be able to pull your car over himself. OnStar is mandatory on all General Motors vehicles, as they are one of the founding companies (the other two being Electronic Data Systems and Hughes Electronic Corporation). A Vehicle Tracking System (VTS) is going to be mandatory on all new vehicles in the next couple of years. Each company might have their own, but they will all use the standard of Global Positioning Device (GPS) technology and do essentially the same thing, monitor everywhere you go.


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