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10/21/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
If some feature could have been implemented much earlier, that's a red flag that it was never in favour. Unfortunately this does imply that carjacking has been encouraged in the past. But then I wouldn't want to open up a new can of worms. Life is just too complex and I am just too messed up.
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
I think the problem with this is eventually you will have carjackers killing the drivers to ensure that Onstar call won't be made.
I also really don't like the idea that someone can stop my car remotely. Yet another reason why you probably won't see me purchasing a Government Motors car anytime soon.
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
Great use of technology in this case. A real win/win, until it fucks up. I can only imagine the horrors that will occur when this system is hacked. And... In some states they suspend your license and registration over Fed, State and Local tax issues. I wonder how soon this technology will get employed for that too. ... Shades of "The Handmaid's Tale".
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
OnStar has been in some vehicles for over 8 years. GM really did this right. I'd like to see them sub contract this service to other car manufacturers. It does more than just stop car thieves. It can detect accidents and save lives by getting emergency response to a scene faster than waiting for someone else to make the call.
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
Will car jackers kill car owners to keep them from using Onstar slowdown?
Only if the car jackers have educated themselves enough to understand this feature. On the flip side, the typical car jacker is looking for a few bucks to feed their drug addiction. These people are notorious for taking unnecessary chances and not thinking through the consequences of their actions.
Anyone who has the savy to study their intended target enough to understand On-star will most likely find an easier, less risky way of illegally aquiring someone else's property.
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
(Dramatization) Murder/Suicide assisted by On-Star SVS!
(THE REPORT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ IS FICTITIOUS, AND IN NO WAY REFLECTS THIS STATION OR IT'S SPONSORS. ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ANY REAL LIFE SITUATION IS COMPLETELY UNKNOWN, UNINTENTIONAL, AND COINCIDENTAL. NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS FICTION. CAUTION: EDGES ARE SHARP, KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW, THIS IS NOT AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT A DEBT. NAMES ARE OMITTED TO PROTECT NO ONE. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO WTMI, WHERE IT'S WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION, ALL THE TIME.)
Today in Las Miamis, New Baha, a woman fleeing her deranged husband who was armed with a stolen M16A1 assault weapon was killed along with their two young children, ages 2 years and 3 months old. Eyewitnesses report that the woman, driving a 2009 Chevy Suburban was being pursued by a man who was yelling obscenities and threats and wielding an "assault or machine rifle." Unknown to the onlookers at the end of the chase, the large SUV was equipped with the OnStar SVS, a subscription-based service used to normally prevent theft or recover a stolen vehicle, and this is what allowed the deranged husband to catch up with his wife.
With the aid of law enforcement, who were under the impression his SUV was being stolen by a car-jacker, he is able to get OnStar to slow and then stop the SUV. Coming to a stop, the man rushes out of his own vehicle, and before police realize what is taking place, brandishes the heavy fully automatic weapon, takes aim and and riddles the passenger compartment and driver's side with gunfire.
After seeing that his wife and 2 children were either dead or dying, and that with the police now on-scene with guns drawn, he turns the weapon on himself and opens fire.
This tragic scene could have been avoided if this service were not activated, as it was later discovered that the vehicle the husband was driving was found to have died from lack of fuel and not from having been turned off. Seconds later, and the wife and children would have been spared a tragic, and untimely, end.
This station sends it's sincere condolences to the family of the deceased.
"THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO WTMI, WHERE IT'S "WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION" ALL THE TIME.
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
sullivanjc, Your logic makes as much sense as those who worried that biometric locks on laptops would lead to owners having their thumbs cut off. Don't you think the blood covered corpse in the parking lot would be a tip off to the police that a crime was committed?
zack, I think you wasted a lot of time on a fictional account and left out an important part. "As the crazed crack-head woman was being chased through residential neiborhoods at speeds exceeding 100 mph by her three time loser husband, they struck and killed 4 children waiting at a school bus stop, and injured another 20 persons at an outdoor festival." Give me a break with this nonsense. I have had OnStar for years and get a sizeable insurance discount for having it.
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
wow
Next it'll be "...thanks to the microchip in her head, little baby Tina was found safe and sound, accidentally locked in the neighbor's garage..."
"Computer, where is commander LaForge?"
"Commander LaForge is on holodeck three..."
No escape. The dream of tyrants from day one.
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
i think it sounds like a great feature! kudos to onstar. the only thing better would be to make it mandatory in all vehicles.
if/when you are on a public road that you do not own and that tens, hundreds, or thousands of other people's lives are at stake, any step that eliminates dangerous driving and high-speed chases helps to protect pedestrians, children, and other drivers from wreckless carjackers or other criminals is to be applauded! I am sick and tired of hearing of needless hour-long police chases when a remote unit like onstar can be used to safely limit the vehicle's operation.
*and for you anti-government conspirists types - get over it already! i actually think it would be a great device to disable a parked car in a driveway for when license plates are not paid, or when insurance on vehicles is allowed to lapse. i am also sick and tired of non-insured or non-licensed vehicles on the road, causing accidents and then not being able to pay or be responsible for it. and yes i have been crashed into by uninsured drivers, and even 1 unlicensed driver who didnt even speak any english, at least he stayed on the scene and the police arrested him. IF YOU CAN NOT AFFORD TO PAY FOR INSURANCE OR A LLICENSE, THEN DONT DRIVE A CAR ON THE PUBLIC HIGHWAYS. I would love to have an engine deactivation policy for parked vehicles for non-insurance or non-license issues, just in the same way that certain high-credit-risk car sales can now install a device to prohibit start-up if the monthly payment is not made. is it big government? i dont think so, it is public safety issues for PEDESTRIANS and other DRIVERS.
so, bring it on, i say mandatory remote-vehicle shut off devices for every car!!!!! and if you dont like it, then take the bus and quit driving.
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
and now for the rest of the story...
I'm sure the onstar technology will expand just like the cell phone. Trying to demonize it and pretend it will go away is only going to lead to frustration.
Personally, I send the ACLU chunks of money to help balance new technology and protection of basic rights.
You guys didn't finish the real story, the carjacker was apprehended by police when he jumped a fence and fell into a private swimming pool. No fancy technology needed for that ending.
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
Zach, you should have used the following---it covers all bases: This is a true story, only the FACTS are FAKE.
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
Because it has GPS and can send data to GM, who's to say some day, for a tax break, GM monitors vehicles and if they are exceeding the speed limit for the Road the GPS detects them on, they call police with the VIN number, who cross reference it thru DMV and pull you over, or mail you a ticket like the photo radar does???
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
Or better still, when it senses that exhaust emissions are rising, it notifies the EPA and shuts you down until you spend several hundred dollars for repairs?
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
You're an idiot Zach. If the woman had onstar in her car, then she could've been in contact with them the entire time, warning her husband was trying to kill her. Onstar would've directed her to the nearest police station and also warned the police about her husband.
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
Here is the sad part of all this technology, my GM vehicle has Onstar, capable of remote two way voice and data communications over an cellular phone connection , they can unlock the doors , blow the horn, flash the lights, they can find you with the onboard GPS
My point is simple; the GPS uses very accurate clocks
The cellular phone gets the time from Verizon
The Onstar works thru the Radio
Why do I have to set the clock in the first place and why does it lose time?
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
Nice technology. Unfortunately, with the govt now in control. . . Can we say BIG BROTHER. Carjacker now then what - the parent that doesn't pay child support (they can't get a passport now) or how about a person late on a payment or maybe a driver just ticked off the wrong bureaucrat or maybe you just contributed too much to the wrong political party or maybe you just didn't newspeak well enough.
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10/22/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
CarJacker now - what's next. Lack of child support, too much contributions to the wrong political party, late payment. Since the govt has taken over GM and the govt now dictates the salaries of the executives, do you really want this invasion. OK you've driven too many miles this week so your car is disabled until next week. And also you went over your alloted miles so pay up the over mileage tax.
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10/23/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
this feature has been in 18 wheelers for a long time. some trucking companies tried to use it to keep drivers from driving over hours.
do not know if it is being used that way.
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10/23/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
If I had bought a vehicle with this system in it I would fit a hidden switch that disabled the engine cut out and transmission of GPS location data over the cell network.All of the advantages with none of the future disadvantages.
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10/23/09 | Report as spam
Big Brother is salivating over onstar
It's 1984. The government can do anything to your car and you are sol.
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10/25/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
carry a weapon like i do (legally) and shoot them first
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10/26/09 | Report as spam
RE: GM's OnStar remote vehicle slowdown feature stops carjacking
Fact: Government Motors. Sooner or later they WILL take over the OnStar service. Once that happens, the WILL require it to be in ALL American autos. Of course when that happens, they will already know how often you've had sex that day, and if you took your morning dump. Your paychecks will already be in garnishment for back taxes, or unpaid tickets, or whatever. So what is this silly fear about the Feds tracking you via GPS? They can find you anytime they want via your cellphone now. Turning it off isn't an option anymore. They send a signal to turn it on again. Or just ping the chipset.
GM’s OnStar service, installed on many of the auto manufacturer’s vehicles, offers GPS navigation, handsfree calling and remote diagnostics. But this past Sunday, it stopped an armed carjacker in his tracks.
