Cars that can talk have been a television and movie staple for a long long time.  You’re probably showing your age (i.e. old) if you can recall the 1960’s television series, My Mother the Car, but there have been more recent reincarnations of the talking car in the forms of Herbie the Love Bug and K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider.  But the best of them all was clearly the Gadget Mobile, the rising star of the movie, Inspector Gadget.  What an amazing car that is!  It can think and reason, it can talk trash, it can even single-handedly (single axelly?) capture a car thief!

Believe it or not, there are cars on the market right now that can help to capture a car thief.  Some newer model cars, specifically those which come with the OnStar safety and security features, have a new functionality known as Stolen Vehicle Slowdown.  Here’s how it works:  Say your car is stolen and you make your report to your local law enforcement agency.  If the police spot your stolen car on the road, they will contact OnStar, and an operator will remotely initiate the Slowdown feature.  A remote signal is sent to the car’s powertrain system, which will gradually slow the vehicle down to idle speed, despite the (probably frantic) attempt to increase speed by the car thief.

Now, if a car could remotely lock the car doors, slap a pair of handcuffs on the thief and drive them off to the nearest pokey that would really be car security personified!  Maybe next year’s model.