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About 400 cars are stolen every day, StatsCan tells us, and for the most part the car companies shrug their shoulders. Cars are easy to steal and with a few exceptions - GM’s premium OnStar service being one - manufacturers haven’t done a lot to stop these thefts.
So it’s lucky for us that Canada has bright and innovative university students. Three of them just came up with a device that deactivates your car if you send it a simple text message.
The University of Saskatchewan students were trying to figure out a way to shut a car down once the owner discovers it’s missing. They came up with the idea of tapping into the car’s heat sensor, which is already equipped to slow and then stop a car if it overheats. A small device could trigger the same shutdown if the car received a text message from its owner.
It’s important to note that the existing shutdown system gradually slows the car, while leaving braking and power systems intact, so reporting the car stolen would not result in out-of-control vehicles causing accidents. More details are in this Toronto Star story.
This is a great idea. And yes, I realize that clever thieves could find ways to sidestep these systems. But any extra deterrent helps, and besides many thieves are not clever: StatsCan also tells us that three out of 10 missing cars are snatched by kids aged 15 to 18.
And while we’re on the topic, why is it that I can add a fingerprint scanner to a Dell Vostro notebook for $50 but a stroll through a car dealership offers no similar option. Again, a good thief can get around any system, but if my new Toyota or Chrysler wouldn’t start up until the car recognized a preregistered fingerprint, wouldn’t that reduce theft? Of course it would.
Manufacturers are pumping all kinds of wonderful technology into modern cars but I say it’s time some of that tech stopped crooks from driving off in my ride.
Peter Wolchak
Posted April 17, 2009
Categories:
General
Security
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