Remote Control Cars

I was not the first person to think of a service like OnStar's Stolen Vehicle Slowdown, BUT I definitely thought of it before I heard about it. My mind has amazing capabilities to wander and one day, it occurred to me that OnStar could be used for some extremely helpful services.

We've known for some time that OnStar can unlock your doors via satellite if you lock your keys inside. And it has also long been known that OnStar magicians can beam their voices into your vehicle supernaturally. So it seemed to me that their powers were likely much grander than they had revealed so far.

Stolen Vehicle Slowdown relies on the previously known service of Stolen Vehicle Location (via real-time GPS technology), then disables the gas pedal so that law enforcement officers do not have to engage the thief in a chase endangering the general public. Pretty cool.

While I like the idea of police protecting and serving the public, and I even like the idea of supporting most of their efforts, another idea I like is the reduction of my interaction with them.

So...I propose Non-Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. It doesn't seem far-fetched that OnStar could be setup to know speed limits on every street and highway. And now that Stolen Vehicle Slowdown has been revealed, it is not difficult at all to imagine that OnStar could chime in automatically to talk to you after 20 seconds of exceeding the speed limit, "Sir, we are advising you that your current speed exceeds legal limits. If you have an emergency, please pull over and allow us to contact the appropriate responders." Then, after an additional 20 seconds of not being contacted for emergency services and the vehicle continuing to speed, "Sir, you have 15 seconds to reduce your speed or it will be reduced for you and you will receive a service charge from OnStar as well as an official traffic citation from the appropriate law enforcement office."

So, Average Mike slows right down to avoid a problem. Then after another minute or two, I start creeping back up to a comfortable speed. And I am greeted by that friendly voice again, "Sir, there are no more warnings available to you on this trip. You have 15 seconds to reduce speed."

Believe me, I'm the sort that isn't going to keep playing this game. I'm going to learn to obey speed limits pretty quickly. And the beauty of the service is that I get to learn the lesson without having a Trooper stand over me with that stern look they all have. Think of the money saved by our government not having to monitor our speed with patrolmen.