OnStar's Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance has helped recover thousands of stolen vehiclesStolen Vehicle Slowdown

General Motors is adding a new capability, Stolen Vehicle Slowdown, to its OnStar in-vehicle security, communications, navigation and diagnostics system. The new feature will be available at no additional cost, starting with selected 2009 model year GM vehicles going into production in mid-year 2008.

Since its introduction in 1996, OnStar's Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance has helped recover thousands of stolen vehicles. OnStar receives about 700 Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance requests from subscribers monthly. Stolen Vehicle Slowdown, not only locates a stolen vehicle, but also helps law enforcement recover it, apprehend the car thieves and reduce the number of vehicle pursuits. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) there are some 30,000 police chases annually, a large number in pursuit of car thieves and carjackers. Of these, about 300 result in fatalities, plus many more cause serious injuries and property damage.

Stolen Vehicle Slowdown builds on OnStar's ability to precisely pinpoint the location of a vehicle using Global Positioning Satellite and OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics that monitors operating conditions and alerts motorists if there is a problem. As its name implies, by signaling the vehicle's fuel system it reduces fuel flow to the engine to slow down the vehicle gradually. Pressing on the accelerator during slowdown will not increase speed. However, to insure the vehicle can still be driven safely, but at reduced speed, other vehicle systems like power steering and brakes remain fully operational.

Just as with the current Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance capability, the subscriber reports a stolen vehicle to the OnStar service center. Then, the advisor immediately calls the appropriate law enforcement agency informing its dispatcher of the incident, vehicle identity and its exact location.

When a law enforcement officer has a clear line of sight of the stolen vehicle, the officer can request OnStar to slow it down remotely. Although the time for this complete process will vary, the vehicle will begin to slow within seconds of the OnStar Advisor sending the slowdown signal to the vehicle.

There are safeguards to insure that the correct vehicle is slowed down and that police are the only ones who request a slowdown, not the vehicle's owner or another party. Also the OnStar advisor confirms that the owner has not opted out of the Stolen Vehicle Slowdown feature of OnStar.