Engine Turnoff

[Gregory Hicks <ghicks () cadence com>]

<http://www.spectator.org/util/print.asp?art_id=12170>

Spectator.org

Engine Turnoff
By Eric Peters
Published 10/16/2007 12:07:44 AM

Big Brother may be about to get just a bit bigger.

General Motors just announced a new and improved version of its OnStar
telematics system that could be used to shut your car's engine off (or
at least, cut back the power) remotely.

Touted as a "safety" feature (of course), the upgraded version of
OnStar would give external authorities (law enforcement -- and, of
course, GM) the ability to send out a signal keyed to the car's on
board computer, which in turn would ease off the gas -- no matter how
hard you're putting foot down.  GPS-equipped cars already can be
located in real time at any time, whether moving or stationary. The
"enhanced" version of OnStar would, however, be the first use of
satellite technology to physically control the vehicle and supersede
the driver.

The system goes live in 2009, when GM will begin offering it on more
than 1.7 million new cars and trucks. Chevrolet will lead the way --
with up to 60 percent of '09 models fitted with "enhanced" OnStar.

So what's wrong with the idea? Is it cabin-in-the-woods paranoia to be
concerned about what, after all, could be a valuable tool for law
enforcement?

The answer depends to a great extent on how much you trust the
government.

Certainly, the use of "enhanced" OnStar to stop high-speed car chases
and retrieve stolen cars is hard to argue with. But will that be all
the technology is used for?

Consider this:

The insurance industry is at this very moment lobbying Congress to
impose electronic speed governors on heavy trucks -- limiting them to
no faster than 68 mph. Surprisingly, the trucking industry isn't
completely opposed to the idea -- provided electronic speed limiters
are also fitted to ordinary passenger vehicles, too. Fair's fair,
right?

Now add a dash of "enhanced" OnStar to the brew.

Come 2009, it will be technically feasible to make speeding impossible.
A modern car is controlled by computers; the computers are now tied
into GPS systems such as OnStar -- which have the ability to send and
receive electronic transmissions, including instructions that tell the
computer how to run the car. "Smart" speed limit signs can now be
fitted with transmitters; when a car with "enhanced" OnStar comes into
range, the transmitter tells the car's computer what the maximum
allowable speed shall be -- and ye shall drive no faster.

Welcome to the future.

"Technology should not just entertain us or make us more comfortable,"
croons NHTSA Administrator Nicole R. Nason. "It should make us safer."
Of course. And what could be safer than making speeding an
impossibility? If you haven't heard this argument voiced openly, just
wait. It's coming as sure as Lindsay Lohan's next DWI. The safety nags
have been patiently waiting for years for technology to catch up to
their agenda.

Courtesy of GM, that day has arrived.

Our friends in the insurance and safety lobbies will soon be urging
that this "optional" technology become a mandatory feature on every new
car.  Speeding is illegal, right? Who is going to argue in favor of
allowing the automakers to continue building and selling cars capable
of being driven 30, 40, 50 mph faster than the highest lawfully
allowable maximum?

What about the children, after all?

And if that's not alarming enough, consider the likely follow-up. Once
all new cars are fitted with in-car speed nannies, the glassy eye of
government will very likely turn its gaze upon older cars -- especially
older pre-computer cars, which can't be electronically controlled
because there is no on-board electronic controller. The old car hobby
is already (justly) alarmed by recent changes in antique/classic car
licensing and registration laws -- which are making it harder and more
expensive to keep an older car on the road.

In Virginia, for example, changes to the laws governing antique vehicle
registration now empower police to conduct what amount to "roadside
safety checks." If the cop decides your antique vehicle doesn't meet
this or that jot or tittle of the law, he can seize your plates on the
spot and have your antique vehicle towed to the impound lot --
notwithstanding that most cops don't have any specific knowledge of
what is or isn't "right" about decades-old vehicles.

Now the authorities have a new tool in their kit. A cudgel by which
they cannot only beat speeders into submission -- but which could very
well be used to take older cars off the road forever. Consider yourself
warned.

And remember to say "thanks, GM."

Eric Peters is an automotive columnist and author of Automotive
Atrocities (MBI).

---------------------------------------------------------------------
I am perfectly capable of learning from my mistakes.  I will surely
learn a great deal today.

"A democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding on what to have for
lunch.  Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the results of the
decision."

"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they
be properly armed." --Alexander Hamilton

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