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OnStar Vehicle Slowdown Catches First Perp

by Terrence O'Brien on October 23, 2009 at 09:24 AM

OnStar Vehicle Slowdown Catches First Perp

With the advent of cheap cell phones, in-car valet systems like OnStar slowly started to fade away. OnStar is one of the few that has survived, thanks to its partnership with GM and the addition of features unreproducible by cell phones (e.g., remote unlocking and vehicle tracking). One of those features is an anti-theft system called Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. The system, which sends a signal to the car's powertrain to reduce power and gradually slow the car down, debuted this year and has finally caught its first perp.

According to police reports, a pair of men were carjacked by one Alberto Romero, with the help of a sawed-off shotgun, in Visalia, California around 3 a.m. Sunday. Within six minutes of the vehicle's being stolen, OnStar had located it, confirmed that police were in pursuit, and triggered the Stolen Vehicle Slowdown system, which brought the briefly high-speed chase to a grinding halt. The suspect apparently leaped from the vehicle and darted from the scene, but fell into a swimming pool, where he was quickly apprehended -- soaking wet and embarrassed -- according to ABC News.

This being the feature's first success, GM and OnStar are understandably excited. But it still doesn't explain why the two victims were driving around at 3 o'clock in the morning, in a fancy 2009 SUV, in a neighborhood where a shotgun-wielding man wouldn't attract too much attention. [From: ABC and GM, via Engadget]

Tags: car, gm, onstar, Stolen Vehicle Slowdown, StolenVehicleSlowdown, theft

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