OnStar - anyone use it?

[Chipmunk]

Originally posted by MichaelC:

But seriously, I had been thinking it might come in handy for my cross-country trips, where I often travel through long stretches of desolate highway. Haven't had engine failure in northern Wyoming yet, but just in case...

My 80-ish aunt has it, and likes it.

Until recently I :-( would have scoffed at it.

I had my first auto accident a year ago, on a rural highway. It was a high speed impact (swerved to miss a reckless minivan*, and went into a steep 6+ foot ditch, with 270+ degree spin about the vertical axis). I only lost consciousness for a short period (the stuff in airbags is very pungent and acts like smelling salts), and was barely able to get out on my own, but that was largely luck. The passenger side frame was bent, and even the cop couldn't open that door.

MichaelC, after that experience, and given your criteria (winter driving in remote locales), I think I'd go with OnStar if my vehicle came with it preinstalled. I'd never heard of that automatic activation upon airbag deployment, which sounds like an excellent safety feature! Can you subscribe by the month, or is there a minimum contract period?


* Note: while the minivan chose not to stop, two other vehicles did and stayed with me until emergency services showed up. Rural folk are generally very generous and attuned to pulled over cars, though that can be a little awkward for :-) birdwatchers who make frequent sudden stops with blinkers on (I need a special rear window sign for that)!

[frankc]

In my recent EPIC.org e-newsletter:

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a lower court should not have allowed the FBI to order a telematics company to convert an automobile's navigation system into a wiretapping device. On-board telematics systems use cellular technology to provide location information, data and voice communication, and information about the condition of the vehicle. The systems are used to aid in navigation, or to alert police to an accident or emergency. The Court of Appeals found that the conversion of a telematics device into an eavesdropping system excessively interfered with the car's emergency features.

In the case, agents obtained a series of orders that required an unnamed telematics company to quietly activate an anti-theft recovery system in a suspect's car. The FBI employed 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2518(4) to obtain the order, which requires communications companies, landlords, and custodians to assist law enforcement in intercepting conversations "unobtrusively and with a minimum of interference with the services" provided. The system transmitted conversations held in the car directly to the FBI, but in doing so, it also disabled the system's safety features.

The telematics company challenged the order, arguing that it was not subject to the obligations of Sec. 2518(4), and that the surveillance would interfere with the services provided to the customers. While the Court of Appeals held that a telematics company would generally have to comply with orders to assist law enforcement in wiretapping, in this case, the eavesdropping interfered excessively with the provision of navigation and emergency services. Accordingly, in future cases, surveillance of auto telematics systems may be lawful where it does not interfere unreasonably with the operation of the device.

The Company v. U.S.A. decision, No. 02-15635 (9th Cir. Nov. 18, 2003), is available at http://www.epic.org/redirect/companyvusa.html

:wowzer: (me shudders....)

[MichaelC]

Originally posted by Chipmunk:
I had my first auto accident a year ago, on a rural highway. It was a high speed impact (swerved to miss a reckless minivan*, and went into a steep 6+ foot ditch, with 270+ degree spin about the vertical axis).

Sounds like you were quite fortunate. It just reminds me that operating a motor vehicle is by far the most dangerous thing most of us do in our daily lives. I've lost count of the times when I've come within a hair's breadth of being clobbered by someone running a light or making a turn without signaling or stopping.

Or the elderly couple who were passing an 18-wheeler on a two-lane highway, not making allowance for the fact that I was about to be using that lane myself (in the other direction).

MC

[Andilinks]

Does OnStar have a satellite connection that will work where cell phones will not? I have always just carried the cell phone and other than that unconscious air-bag deployment thing, I think the cell phone is much better, more flexible for any emergency.

So if you have a phone anyway is it worth $20./mo. for a possible call when you're unconscious? If I were that paranoid I think I'd just stay home.


Andi

[Randall]

It just reminds me that operating a motor vehicle is by far the most dangerous thing most of us do in our daily lives.

Oy, don't even get me started...

Randall

# Some days, staying home sounds like a good idea