Oct 10, 2007 12:07 am US/Eastern
Steal-Proof Vehicles? OnStar, GM Announce Slowdown
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
New technology could put the breaks on those high-speed police chases that are a danger to us all.
On Tuesday, General Motors and OnStar announced a new way to stop those chases with a flick of the switch.
There are 30,000 police car chases every year, many injuring and killing innocent bystanders.
John Phillips lost his sister Sarah to a police chase when two suspects slammed into her car as they fled. The tragedy was caught on a dashboard camera. Sarah is among the 300 people killed every year due to police car chases.
"I don't even think I really believed it," Phillips said. "It's one of those where, when is this dream going to end, when am I going to wake-up."
On Tuesday, GM and OnStar announced the stolen vehicle slowdown service. Once the stolen car is located by Global Positioning Satellite, and police see the vehicle, OnStar can cut the engine power by remote, so the thief can't accelerate, gradually slowing down the car. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly is cautiously optimistic.
"We're always looking for advances in technology, anything that's going to help us reduce crime," Kelly said. "I'd like to get a little more information. I think it needs to be studied more but it sounds promising."
Glenn Derene of Popular Mechanics says the technology has great promise, but there's also a possible downside
"There is a potential in the future for a truly unstealable car," Derene said, but added, "There is potentially a privacy issue on it.
"Whether or not police could just get a court order to slowdown a vehicle that there's been no request on. I just don't think that's been tested."
OnStar has been locating GM vehicles since 1996, finding about 700 per month. The new vehicle slowdown service will be available in 2009 in about 20 GM models.
The 2009 models will be rolling out late next year. The service is free for the first year, but it'll cost nearly $200 a year to continue using OnStar after that.
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