OnStar's eagerly awaited stolen vehicle slowdown service proves to be masterful technology, though we are skeptical about its efficacy.
The police we spoke to certainly aren't.
Discover that your car has been jacked and you must first file a stolen vehicle report with the local police. Then you contact OnStar, which will work with the cops to locate the vehicle using GPS.
When the police identify the vehicle by sight, OnStar remotely makes the lights flash on your GM to confirm its identity. When police see that conditions are safe to stop the vehicle, OnStar remotely slows it to a crawl with a rev-limiter technology. There's nothing left for the bandits to do except stop and ponder what their love lives will be like in prison showers.
What happens when someone shoves a Glock in your face? Read after the jump.
The technology works magnificently. We tore through an obstacle track in a Yukon. Within seconds of the stop dispatch, the vehicle arrested to about 15 mph. Restarting the engine, changing gears--nothing overrides the technology. It was as if the thumb of God were pressing down on our Yukon.
But first filing a police report loses precious time. In many counties around the country, this requires physically going down to the police department. By that time, your Yukon is in the chop shop--or it's across state lines and has been sold to a bunch of teenagers who will promptly roll it.
Wouldn't it be more effective--especially in the case of carjackings or when you witness the theft--to call OnStar directly? After all, it's just going to slow the vehicle down. Unfortunately, a direct intervention often entails criminals, weapons, pranks, lawsuits and other things that neither OnStar nor police officials want you to be involved with. (So drop your OnStar subscription and buy your own Glock with the money saved?)
"It may not prevent theft, but it sure will assist," says detective Jon Thorne from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Thorne, who has also tested the technology, is enthusiastic about it. "Look, about 1,500-plus cars in LA County get stolen every week. If officers can work with OnStar, we can bring this down."
Thorne's sentiments were echoed by other police we spoke with.
From a law-enforcement standpoint, the chief advantage of the technology is to prevent high-speed chases, for which police departments around the country are receiving increasing criticism. "If pursuits go on for a long time, you have to put out spike strips," says Thorne. "People get killed." In fact, nearly 40% of high-speed chases result in property damage. About 25% result in injury or death.
OnStar predicts that it will conduct about 600 vehicle slowdowns a year when the service reaches full production. It will begin rolling it out across 19 models for 2009.
Our prediction? The real advantage the service brings to customers will probably be in deterring theft, rather than stopping it.
Photo: Beige Alert, licensed through Creative Commons
