That’ll reduce the time I spend watching those ever-fascinating police chases

It’s a cool concept, until they do it and the person who did the car-jacking executes their passenger, whom they stole the car from.

that might bring thefts of GM vehicles to nothing

What they need is “Stolen Vehicle DETONATION” so we can watch and laugh as the cops call in and blow the jackass criminal to the moon.

1. Auto-lock the doors to prevent excape
2. Bring the vehicle to a gradual stop
3. Blast the stereo with an infinite loop of the Spice Girls’ “Do you wanna be my lover”
4. Let them rot by the roadside until the f#ckers blow their own brains out. Hopefully a teflon coated interior is included in the package.

Sounds like a good feature. Its good to see GM leading the way on new technology instead of playing catch up to MB and BMW (the companies that always seem to develop the latest tech first).

its like the bait cars that cops use….i just wanna see their faces when the car stops w/ the 5-0 behind them

we need the stickdeath security systems

‘Head-giver’, what we need is for ****heads like you to cease posting useless, humorousless text.

Whats stoping them from making us do the speed limit?

This won’t do a ****ing thing. Transponders/GPS tracking devices have been around for 10 years, and cars equipped with them get stolen all the time. Every good car thief knows the 5 possible locations the ****ing GPS could be located in, and rips it out in 20 seconds or less.

I know tons of people whose cars were stolen with Boomerangs on them (GPS) – the signal disappears and no one knows what the **** happened or where the car is.

JedS88 – because no one wants that. An argument can be made that that is a violation of privacy of at least some kind of freedom laws.

I seriously think GM has the power to be the biggest/best automaker in the future. Plenty of innovations and the quality of the vehicles is on the rise.

This is really cool.

I hope that GM exploits OnStar to it’s fullest. This is such an exclusive feature that customers should be swooning for GM products. I want to hear, “I refuse to own a car without OnStar”.

R-head, Global: good stuff.

Bryce. That could be a GM car or a car from Honda’s faux-luxury division. Honda calls it something else, but it’s OnStar

Speed limiting technology has existed for years. Realistically, they could have used simple mechanical means to restrict us to 75 MPH a long time ago. So why won’t they do it? Because speeding tickets are a big source of revenue for many jurisdictions. Don’t think of it as ‘penalty’, think of it as a ‘tax’.

This is cool if 1) the car recognizes it is stolen 2) the car contacts OnStar 3) who contact the cops. There are so many points of failure in that equation that its ridiculous. Plus many times these vehicles are just being chopped. I like how GM is getting into the satellite services game though. Soon, your GM car won’t start without an OnStar subscription.

I know that OnStar is now GM exclusive, but I’m aware that there are other, similar programs on different vehicles. OnStar was offered on vehicles from other manufacturers some years ago. Just found a comprehensive list on onstar.com. Still, OnStar is a commonly used name. In it’s small scale, it’s like saying ‘Kleenex’ instead of tissue.

Jazz, this works because the victim will recognize that the car is stolen.

No, Bryce: The General actually operates the thing for Honda

“TROY, MICH.–Genera Motors’ OnStar division has its first non-GM customer as it announces the driver assistance program will be installed in Honda’s 2002 “Acura” RL vehicles in the U.S. The move to install on Honda vehicles is the division’s first step toward diversifying its customer base and distancing itself from the GM image (Brandweek, April 10).

If it saves one life it will be worth it.

jackjimturkey, I’m aware of that. Found it on OnStar’s website. But I couldn’t find a 2007 or newer model with OnStar. I think that you’ll see it on there. It’ll list all of the available 2007 models, 2006 models, and Pre-Owned.

I know that that quote is probably five years old, but why do you think OnStar would want to seperate itself from GM?

This is a cool concept

Disgruntled OnStar adviser…last day on job…randomly selects 100 cars in NYC or LA…activates “SVS” on each…freeways come to standstill. Better call my agent: I think this’ll be a great screenplay for the next “Italian Job” remake.

Acura quit OnStar to use their own system, AcuraLink. OnStar is like LexusLInk, Mercedes TeleAid Command System and BMW Assist. Almost every car maker has a service equal – in some ways better – than OnStar.

Bryce, this feature is nice but I doubt people are going to choose GM over another car they are considering just because it can be shut down instead of just located (what all Assist systems offer).

OnStar with or without a shut down system is no reason to choose a GM product over another brand. The lack of an Assist system may be a reason not to choose a car but OnStar itself doest sell the GM brand since other manufacturers offer comparable systems.

Jazz, I would guess this system would work the same as vehicle recovery only shutting down the car once cops are near or once its in a safe place. Currently almost all Assists (OnStar, BMW Assist, MB TeleAid) work the same. The cars don’t know they have been stolen. You report the car stolen to the police. You get a case number. You call the Assist number and give your Assist number and the police case number. The Assist rep calls the police, verifies it has been reported stolen then assists the police in locating the vehicle (GPS).

In this case the OnStar rep would either shut down the car or wait for the police to request the car be shut down. Its a great option but not a huge leap from existing vehicle recovery options from all Assist systems.

Global lightning – you are an idiot..if you read the article, this is about OnStar being able to STOP cars by cutting off their engine power for cars that have been stolen, this is not about electronic speed limits like many German carmakers limit their cars’ speeds to 150MPH maximum. This is about stopping a thief in a stolen car from getting away or wrecking it.

Also, what is up with the conspiracy theory about speeding tickets? Money collected for speeding tickets goes to the government, not back to GM.

Off topic but I always thought speed limiters were set around the maximum for the tires originally installed. Before Z rated tires came out 149mph was the highest any tire was rated. German auto makers pretty much have stuck with the 150 or 155mph limiter since then. it also was a way to self regulate their own cars instead of having the government set a standard. If the engines were allowed to perform at peak levels many could go well beyond what is safe for the vehicle on a closed track.

I don’t get why you told us all that Driven, but yea you are correct.

155MPH (or 250KM/H) is just a safety feature (possibly government mandated). No one NEEDS to go above that speed and cars become more dangerous for inexpirienced drivers to control at those speeds.

What if I want to drive away from the cops in my own car? Don’t I have the right to escape from cops in my own car? I think this is a good invention, but that owner’s consent should be required in oreder for police to stop the car. I should have the right to flee from the fuzz if I own the car without forced slowdown.

This is the right thing to do.

I want the South African Flame Thrower Sidepipes to help stop carjackers.

Saw it on a TV report, works great.

Bring it here to the US and watch the crime rate go down.

Driven, I meant that OnStar is an exlusive feature, not this Stolen Vehicle Slowdown program.

TOZO, your comment makes perfect sense only if it’s possible to steal your own car.

Tanoya: good idea, if you can flesh it out

Bryce: I’f I’m wrong, I stand corrected

Commodore-So were seatbelts.

look at the onstar website it lists a few other brands too.

Umm, I disconnected the Onstar module from my car a long time ago, I’m just not a fan of the man knowing my every whereabouts from a satellite, even if I dont subscribe to the service. Here in America thats just another tool for “Big Brother” to butt their noses in. No, I dont do anything illegal, things just start from so called harmless technology. Ask the UK and their’s cameras.

GOOD GM

^ leave your cell phone at home then bro.