OnStar can now remotely disable vehicles being pursued by the police.
Additionally, if your car is powerful enough to pull over .9Gs off the starting line, OnStar has some words for you.
People all over the country are very concerned over the stupidity of revenue… er… “red light” cameras. I just have to wonder how long before Buick/Cadillac/Chevrolet/GMC drivers start receiving their speeding tickets in the mail, with a return address of “OnStar, 400 Renaissance Center, Detroit, MI 48265″.
After all, who owns OnStar? General Motors. And who owns General Motors now…?
Actually, .9G in any direction seems to do it. So braking or corner would also probably set the junk off.
Not that I know of anyone who is buying a GM car anytime soon, but if I did I’d remind them to not pay for their own surveillance.
Some car rental companies equipped their fleets a few years ago with GPS tracking devices. If the renter went over the speed limit or went past territoral limits or state lines charges would be added to their bills. Court cases insued and the judgement was the rental companies did not properly notify their customers and the renters won the case. I think that OnStar would be bound by law to notify their clients. Since OnStar is a subscription service, many cancellations would take place if they were a party to issuing tickets.
I’ve always been a Ford man. Probably won’t get another after I retire my Ranger, but I still have a lot of love for the blue oval. This is one more reason not to buy one of thems Chevvies!
Phil: Good catch – it probably does. And I can certainly see how such a situation might appear like an accident, but how hard is it to correlate the fact that the engine was climbing towards redline when this incident was occurring?
Barnet Fagel: I have little to no doubt that such a disclaimer would have to be made, but when was the last time you (or anyone else, not to single you out) actually read through all of the fine print of something you were signing? Oh, sure, we are supposed to, but how many people do? And even with the disclosure and letting people know, I still find the thought of a now-government-owned corporation keeping this close of tabs on us, and potentially having the capabilities of issuing tickets “on the fly”, so to speak.
Weer’d: I am very seriously considering picking up a slightly modified ’06 Mustang, but, at this point, I will never again consider a GM product.