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Satellites Used to Stop Car Thieves in Pakistan
zymurgy_cat writes "Yahoo has an interesting story about a
company in Pakistan that uses satellites and mobile phone networks to monitor and disable stolen cars. Looks like they can also monitor people's driving habits and whether or not they're using the air conditioner. The article comments about how much easier it is for them to do things like disabling cars remotely than in Western countries. (Remind me to never rent a car in Pakistan.)"
I used to work for a company that would track cars with a GPS/Cellphone tracker, installed in the vehicles of people who bought them, the service was primarily to give courtesy services, such as directions and locate businesses in proximity, Through a radius search in a database which was merged with Navtech data.
The Tracker was superior technologically to that of OnStar, in fact the service was called OnGuard, the main advantage of their tracker is that you did not have to put the customer on hold to get an update on their location (OnStar does). If the vehicle is running we could get a location on it when we would call the cell, if the car was off we would have a 7 minute window every 1 hour to call it if it was in a cell area.
There were other uses for the trackers. Police agencies throughout the States and Canada used them in "bait" cars where they'd leave the keys on the seat of the car, and wait for someone to take it for a ride, with the door handles triggering a switch that'd call us.
Unfortunately they ceased operations in our area, and moved else where. It was a great pioneering technology.
With the exception of what is legally allowed in the USA, I see no difference in this and Lowjack or other tracking systems.
To my understanding, many large commercial fleets already have tracking systems in place, which was originally designed for the trucking industry.
Also, most new cars have extensive logging. I was unaware of this until the shop manager at my VW dealership complimented my easy driving. I asked how he knew, and told me some details and funny stories about how it's already saved them money.
For instance, Joe Abusive buys a new VW. He doesn't like the deal he got, so he breaks stuff on his car because he's one of those types. Say, he sits on his porch and clicks the locks on and off with his remote until they are burned out. Upon taking it back to the dealer, they can see he accessed his car locks remotely 9500 times in the last 24 hours. A clear sign of abuse and would not be covered by warranty. That's a true story, by the way. I think the car in question was a new Passat.
The tracking systems for truckers has been around for 10-15 years. It seems about that long ago that my uncle (a truck driver) was complaining about not being able to speed or take senic routes anymore due to some heavy new electronics on board.
If I were a company owner and had a fleet of cars for employees to use for business use, I'd definitely investigate getting a service like this. Everyone I've known who uses a company car on a regular basis always drives them like there's no tomorrow. A terrible waste for the folks paying for that luxury.
On all semi trucks made after 2000 they have an onboard computer system for the ABS this is also tied into the Qualcom communications system. My company had monthly printouts they showed where I had driven and when and where I slept. They than reviewed my driving style (shifting vs. RPM's how fast was I going when I hit the brakes - was it slow even pressure or quick pumping of the pedal - They even showed how fast and what gear to what RPM I rolled down hills in.) In the event of a highjack or even driver off course they will turn the governer down to allow idle only (i.e. driver drove to many hours, or unsafe). I did see one episode the satillite transmitter went out on a "high dollar" load, 4 hours after signal died the driver pulls into our terminal for fuel. He swiped the fuel card and the computer on the fuel pump sent the location into headquarters. Before he finished fueling the governor was set to no more than Idle and the police (city, county, state, and a couple US marshals) were sourounding the place. He was tackled and stuffed into a squad car till it was all sorted out.
I'm told you are what you eat, does that mean I can be you by tomorrow with some A1?
Anyhoo, most insurance companies either flat-out weren't interested in covering the car, or asked for incredibly high premiums. One *did* offer a premium in-line with other similar cars *but* with the condition that I have satellite tracking fitted by one of a couple of companies nominated by them. IIRC, at the time, the cost of installing the kit would have been circa AUD$1000-$1500. There was an annual monitoring fee too, don't remember what it was, but it was at least a couple-o hundred bucks.
This whole business of locating a car, waiting for the police to catch up, then disabling the vehicle at a point when the orificer on the scene advises that it is safe to do so is something that has been advertised in car/bike 'enthusiast' circles here for quite some time.
I find your ideas intriguing and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Unless it includes a driver.
(For a Westerner) the low additional cost of a chaufeur is nothing vs. the chance of becoming the victim of someone trying to take you for a ride on an insurance scam through a staged accident.
This is something to keep in mind in virually all third world countries!
"The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
The price tag for such a system is about EUR 1.500, plus EUR 30 monthly fee for the tracking and GSM communication costs (you can use the cellphone).
They are not tracking your every move, since that would be too costly; you're only being tracked when actively requested:
Entering the wrong or no access code when starting
Somebody hitting one of the 'Assistance' buttons (technical assistance, medical assistance, panic button)
Car movement without running engine (ie: being towed)
Crash sensors detected probable accident
Contacting their callcenter directly in case of theft (by either you or the police)
They have the power to remotely stop the vehicle (progressive slowdown initiated by motor management, stop the engine when the car is doing less than 5 km/hr), but can legally only do so when adviced by the police.
Will it put of possible thieves? May be.
Will the chances of retrieving the stolen vehicle increase? Probably
Will professional thieves be stopped by this? Absolutely not.
Okay... I'll do the stupid things first, then you shy people follow.
[Zappa]