General Motors' OnStar to work with CDC »
Posted by: STONERS 1 year, 5 months agoGeneral Motors Corp.'s OnStar service is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help emergency responders more effectively treat crash victims.
Read Full Story at news.yahoo.com
Join the Discussion 
+ Add Comment
Comments So Far: 47
-
0%
STONERS1 year, 5 months ago
GM's OnStar system alerts emergency rescue officials when an air bag deploys or the vehicle is struck in a moderate to severe crash. Subscribers can also receive driving directions, roadside assistance and other services.
Emergency responders could benefit from the OnStar system because its sensors transmit real-time data pinpointing where a vehicle was struck, whether it rolled over or if it was hit several times.
Reply-
0%
STONERS1 year, 5 months ago
That type of precision can help emergency officials make the "absolutely critical decision" of whether to send a crash victim to a Level I trauma center, which provides the highest level of trauma care, said Dr. Richard Hunt, who leads the CDC's division of injury response at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
"It will save lives and dollars in making sure that the right people get to the right institutions with the right care," said Charles Stokes, the president and chief executive of the CDC Foundation, adding that the approach could "change the face of emergency medicine over time."
Reply -
100%
invest071 year, 5 months ago
OnStar is 1984 coming true.
This is Big Brother is watching you technology that should send a shiver down the spine of every freedom loving person in this country.
All the new cars have a OBD2 chip (On Board Diagnostics)which does all this and can do much more. OnStar integrates with this chip to send out a satellite/radio signal.
Examples:
1. Onstar can send you reminders when you are due for an oil change or 60,000 mile service. How do they know how many miles you have driven? The OBD2 chip tells them.
2. Onstar can also read the check engine light. They won't tell you the results, only to take your car to the dealer.
If OnStar can do all this, what makes you think they don't know exactly how fast you are driving or exactly where you are at all times? What makes you think that the cops won't be giving out future speeding tickets by OnStar.
I will never own any vehicle with the ability to transmit personal data to the government in real time.
Reply-
25%
invest071 year, 5 months ago
Right now it is by choice. The danger here is that the government will take away our choice in the future.
I see this as laying the groundwork for Big Brother. The benfits are all that is presnted and the downside is never mentioned, until it is too late.
The potential for substantial abuse by the government here can't be denied.
Reply -
0%
Changingconstant1 year, 4 months ago
((...by our choice...and for our benefit))
The term choice is tricky. OnStar is a third party but when they couple themselves with CDC it is government involvement. I choose to go to the grocery store so I have made the choice, by default, to be security taped by a third party.
Public crosswalks are videotaped and if I choose to cross the street the government can make and keep a record of that.
The former is unpleasant but not unavoidable while the latter despicable. There should not be government intercedence in non-criminal movements through public areas.
(and even now it is a crime/misdemeanor for adults to be in public without a picture id)--pre RealID.
((Individuals can stop paying or rip off antenna if there is a problem))
OnStar is currently factory installed. Just because you aren't paying for access to the info doesn't mean the info isn't being gathered.
Reply -
0%
nakedtruth1 year, 4 months ago
{{This is Big Brother which is watching over us by our choice... and for our benefit.}}
It's not by choice. Not if you buy a late model GM car. OnStar is installed whether you want it or not and it is active whether you buy the subscription or not.
Reply -
67%
79233401 year, 5 months ago
The OBD system was originally developed to reduce emissions but with the complex computer systems automobiles have now they are a great dianognistic tool. If your CEL (check engine light) latched on and your car ran like crap could you fix it without a scan tool? You might fix it in a couple months and thousands of dollars later.
It is true that the chip can record data but only very limited data. As far as I know police vechicles are only ones that you can download max speed and max engine rpm. I have seen this.
Reply
-
-
-
-
25%
kctrixter1 year, 5 months ago
This seems like it could be great. My only question is why the CDC, local 911 would seem like a better choice, then the info could be passed to the responding ambulance, fire department, and police units. How does the CDC disseminate this information. If it is just a information gathering tool then it would of more use to the insurance companies than the person in the accident.
Reply
-
-
-
70%
RoyHobbs1 year, 5 months ago
It will save lives and hopefully make response time to an accident faster.
Reply -
100%
TOtheMOON1 year, 5 months ago
If this only saves one life it will be so well worth the cost. It will be wonderful to see its effects after it has been used for some time.
Reply -
-
-
0%
invest071 year, 5 months ago
Dead spots are not the only concern. Read my post above.
The OBD2 chip records your speed. It is a short leap from OnStar to having the cops monitor your driving in real time.
How about having the environmental cops (Al Gore is head of this yet to be stablished agency) sending you a ticket because your check engine light is on and it's an oxygen sensor? What if they send a signal to disable your car until you pay a service call mechanic 250 bucks for that oxy sensor?
How about the government monitoring bars and restaurants and following everyone who leaves, in real time, and waiting for a motion sensor to detect some side to side movement?
OnStar is only the foot in the door to governemnet snooping, in real time.
If you didn't like the terrorist wiretaps, this should send you through the roof.
Everyone who thinks OnStar is a good idea should reread George Orwell's 1984 and think long and hard about what might happen.
Reply-
73%
TOtheMOON1 year, 5 months ago
Let's say someone gets hit - hard - enough to need Level I trauma assistance to save their life and OnStar can send that help faster than waiting until the injured is assessed by some rescue person first THEN is sent for. Could save someone right? Yeah - my husband was hit by a semi and his aorta was torn. By the time a helicopter got to the scene and took him to a trauma center it was too late. He bled to death. Those few minutes may or may not have saved him, who knows, but I would have certainly loved to know if he would have had a chance if he had this OnStar that they are talking about now.
On a side note - Ironically it was his seatbelt that caused the trauma that eventually killed him. Bummer!
Reply
-
-
-
0%
jordan111 year, 5 months ago
OnStar switched from analog to digital January first. My car (a 2004 model), is analog, so I lost my OnStar service. If I'm willing to pay $1500 for the switchover, & leave my car at the dealership for a day or so, I can get it back. The digital signal is shorter than the analog signal, & doesn't cover the same territory that analog did. Doesn't pick up some rural areas at all. Having to shell out another $1500 for digital, when I shelled that out three years before, leaves me a little reluctant. I can't believe thay hadn't known they were going to have to switch to digital, & at least should have informed buyers so we could decide if we wanted to spend $3000 to have the service in our car, ultimately. They started installing the digital in the 2005 model of my car.
Reply -
100%
elll1 year, 5 months ago
cell phones are great to have....unless you are knocked out. Even if you arent...when you are in an accident, try finding your purse after...it's never where you left it!
:o)
Reply -
81%
jordan111 year, 5 months ago
How about keeping your cell phone in the car as well for those "dry patches".>>>>
I keep my cell phone in the car, & their great for some emergencies, but not all.
Reply -
42%
elll1 year, 5 months ago
If you are in an accident...(censors?) go off and onstar kicks in and they talk to you..if you don't respond or indicate you need help, they send emergency people to you.
...but I could be wrong..I don't have it...thats just what I learned from the good 'ole TEE VEE
;o)
Reply -
20%
jordan111 year, 5 months ago
When your seat belt deploys, that automatically connects to OnStar. You don't have to push the button to call them. Also, if there is a serious problem going on around you, and you're driving, all you have to do is reach up and push the button to contact OnStar. You don't have to fumble for a cell, try to see to dial numbers, and drive at the same time. There's a built in speaker, and you just talk while watching what you're doing on the road, and OnStar will send help & know right where to send them. If someone tries to carjack you, you can push the button, a live voice comes on, you say you're being carjacked, the police come. If someone steals your car, call OnStar....they'll track your car and tell the police where it is. If you're locked out, call them and they can open the dang door electronically! It's amazing, really. ANY reason, from being lost to being in trouble....just push that button.
Reply -
50%
Harbeas1 year, 5 months ago
If it was offered for free, I might be interested. We are paying through the nose for what ifs.
Reply -
0%
1basque11 year, 5 months ago
I have or should I say HAD OnStar when I bought my GMC Truck. Just to try it out I pushed the button to call and see how it worked...It freaked me out when the lady asked me if I was heading North on 400..When it came time to renew the contract I just didn't want to spend the money to have it...
On the other hand, I told my daughter that if she were to drive it Onstar could hear everything being said in the truck...She never asked to drive it !! Hhhmmm what do you think?
Reply -
83%
atypicalguy1 year, 5 months ago
The system is a good idea as long as we have some kind of consumer oversight group making sure it's only used in emergencies like what they mentioned. If; however, people remain apathetic about this technology, there is great potential for abuse. It's easy to imagine a day when one can be singled out by the police and instead of persuing, they simply send a signal to lock all the doors and have the vehicle pull itself over. If self-driving cars are ever built, they could go one step further and simply have it drive directly to the police station.
Reply -
100%
CaptainDave211 year, 5 months ago
In theory this sounds real important but in true life every accident victum must be evaluated then sent to the best facility available. No eye in the sky is going make decisions that will over ride a local jurisdictions routin operations. Now and days everyone wants a check from their back and neck pain even there is no real damage to their vehicle.
Reply -
100%
topperjax1 year, 5 months ago
TOtheMOON said: ((Let's say someone gets hit - hard - enough to need Level I trauma assistance to save their life and OnStar can send that help faster than waiting until the injured is assessed by some rescue person first THEN is sent for. Could save someone right? Yeah - my husband was hit by a semi and his aorta was torn. By the time a helicopter got to the scene and took him to a trauma center it was too late. He bled to death. Those few minutes may or may not have saved him, who knows, but I would have certainly loved to know if he would have had a chance if he had this OnStar that they are talking about now.
On a side note - Ironically it was his seatbelt that caused the trauma that eventually killed him. Bummer!))
My condolences on your loss, and how ironic that I nearly had my neck broken last year by a seat belt. All the warm fuzzies they give you on the TV ads lead you astray.
I do have OnStar in my new vehicle, and it has come in handy... (cont.)
Reply -
50%
topperjax1 year, 5 months ago
And yes, it does have an automatic emergency call that sends assistance if you do not respond, it does have an onboard gps unit that is always active, and it even has a built-in cell phone that works through my car stereo.
Remember when we didn't have cell phones and our cars didn't talk to us?????
I do remember 1984, (the book and the movie), and it is coming closer and closer to a control issue. When it is mandatory to have an OnStar type service on all vehicles, it's only a couple of days later that we will be required to have chip implants so the "Big Brother" can keep an eye on all of us... no matter what we are doing.
Pardon me, but if I am taking a dump and have a bad case of the squirts, I don't want anyone to monitor it.
Plus, I don't want anyone to be able to monitor my kinky behavior with my significan other, either.
Good thread Stoners.
Reply -
27%
Changingconstant1 year, 4 months ago
Don't forget THX 1138. With prescription business booming everything gets fixed with pills now.
Reply
Submitted By:
STONERS
I've started a ""STONERS Daily News Group"" Please stop by and have a look and join if you like it.. All welcome!!! ;~]
Add your ...
Also submitted:
- 5.1 - Goodyear to close 92 U.S. stores, cut jobs
- 4.7 - 'Boomerang' Fay gains strength over Florida
- 4.9 - Russia starts Georgia pullout
- 4.9 - Trace arsenic in water may be linked with diabetes
Related Articles:
Why not submit a story?
Also Propping This Article
TimALoftis
capn_caveman
jackl
pawfoots
noname99- Helixbuilder
ciera-marie
berkeley
Eagle_Eye
tehranchik
Groups Watching This
No groups are watching this story. Why not share it with your group?
