Tanker Truck Shut Down Via Satellite

unassimilatible writes "Satellite Security Systems, in cooperation with the California Highway Patrol and InterState Oil Company, demonstrated the first wireless remote shutdown of a fully loaded, moving gas tanker truck. Described as "a viable solution to the challenge of controlling rogue hazardous waste vehicles that could pose a threat to homeland security," satellite communications were used to disable the truck in seconds, 530 miles from the demonstration site. But that's not all. California Assembly Bill (AB) 575 (PDF link) would require truck disabling devices, global positioning or other 'location reporting systems' on all hazardous material haulers. With all of the police pursuits in California, can mandatory GPS and disabling devices in all vehicles be far away?"

Comments

Well there goes the end of the car chases on Fox.

[matthew.thompson]

What are they going to use for "The world's stupidest car chases" now?

Re:And when the bad guys get it?

[WegianWarrior]

Forget about the bad guys - what happens when a geek hacks this, reverse engeniers it and put it out as a open source project =) ?

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:And when the bad guys get it?

[Oncogene]

Heck, what if the wackos in the state government get it?

A while ago, the governor of South Carolina decided that he wasn't getting enough press during election time, so he started a mini-battle against the DOE and their nuclear installation (SRS) located in the south-west portion of SC. He decided that no more nuclear waste would be allowed to enter the state [for harmless processing] and eventually ended up sending the state's military against the Fed's mixed caravan of the military and HazMat vehicles. Literally. The state guard was in the middle of the road, blocking the Feds.

It wasn't enough that we had a huge amount of nuclear materials traveling through the state. We had it just sitting there, begging for some nutjob with a car to ram into it.

With a vehical disabling function, this bullshit can happen anywhere.

Re:So much for homeland security

[KDan]

Sounds more like increasing homeland insecurity to me. Which seems to be pretty much in line with what Bush has been up to so far.

Daniel

Re:Tin-Foil hat time?

[Anonymous Coward]

Walking does not use up non-renewable resources and has therefore been laeled unpatriotic and unamerican. Please sit still until you're collected by Homeland Security Forces.

Re:Shutdown?

[Oncogene]

That'd be insult to injury. A BSOD right before the blinding flash.

In the UK we already have this....

[reality-bytes]

In the UK we already have 2 effective systems for disabling road vehicles.

One is called Road Tax and the other is the 3.80/gal fuel price.

Re:The logic is flawed

[Speare]

B) Steal a truck WEEKS in advance , have time to throughly remove any id , electronic shutdown aids, put fake plates on, respray, fill with a chemical of your choice and drive normally into the city unrecognized?

Why did I just hear the theme to the A-Team playing, and imagine a long useless video segment of Face and Murdock fighting over who gets to use the welding torch next?

Smokey and the Bandit

[ElWelshWizard]

It will make the Deputy's job in Smokey and the Bandit a lot easier though!

And in other news...

[llamafirst]

From S3's headquarters in San Diego -- 530 miles from the demonstration site -- satellite communications were used to disable the truck in seconds, proving S3's GlobalGuard and FleetGuard a viable solution to the challenge of controlling rogue hazardous waste vehicles that could pose a threat to homeland security.

And in other news, based on these tests the US Government signed a contract for full support for follow-up product for remote control of mobile military weaponry. You know, to make sure control doesn't fall into the wrong hands. The product, called SkyNet...

Re:So much for homeland security

[CaseyB]

truck smashes into Silicon valley traffic, tumbles, explodes and kills 200 poor defensless Mercedes drivers

You say that like it's a bad thing.

</obvious>

Re:Wasn't the bill introduced by a Democrat?

[Dun Malg]

Dont know if you've noticed, but the democrats and the republicans ARE THE SAME THING. They both want the same thing in the end, just have subtly different ways of going about it.

Personally, the differences between them have always reminded me of that old Miller Lite beer commercial. You know the one where two groups of tough guys are arguing in a bowling alley about the beer's best quality. One side shouts "less filling!" then the other side shouts back "tastes great!" (repeat until 30 seconds are up). Meanwhile, I'm watching it and thinking "that shit's nasty; I'd rather have something else". But in the case of parties here in the US, we got Lite Beer only.

Re:Wasn't the bill introduced by a Democrat?

[espo812]

It reminds me of those commercials too - except I can only remember the one where the two hot girls are arguing about it, and end up fighting each other in a pond.... wow they are hot.

Tinfoil hat

[phorm]

Lots of guys put trashcans over their dishes at night so dispatch won't bother them while they're sleeping

So basically, in the future I might not need my tinfoil hat, but my car will?

Re:Remote Shut down of autos exist

[dasmegabyte]

OnStar is easily defeated.

Don't pay your bill.

Part of the code

[Godeke]

if ((options == (__DESTROYVEHICLE | __CRASHVEHCILE)) && (current->uid = 0)) {
disablevehicle(vid);
}
retval = -EINVAL;

Re:So much for homeland security

[jazman_777]

Image a 30 ton truck full of gasoline or liquid oxygen rolling down I5 at 70 MPH

Now imagine a beowulf cluster of these.

Re:So much for homeland security

[Stephen Samuel]

Because it would be illegal to disable the device on a stolen vehicle, of course.

Oh silly me. Why didn't I think of that??? The last thing a suicide bomber would want would be to end up in jail after he blows himself up.