I'm going to have to get in on this spat on hearing impaired people driving. My wife is hearing impaired with over 60% loss and drives and drives well she is more aware of what is going on around her because of her handicap she is always alert and watching, she see's more than I do when we are driving and always knows what street we are on in a strange town. Can most of you say that? when you lose one sense your other senses becaome more acute, the other thing she never is bothered by radio's ,( hers is never on ) or cell phones when driving !
Klindsey
I agree 100%. Works for me also. We should all be so smart...
actually, my concurrence was with respect to transponder removal. i think we've all locked our keys out at least once in life...i have a few extra keys around the house specifically in case that ever happened, and i do carry my cell everywhere...it's also my watch, among other things, and my keys are on a lanyard (remember how your mom used to tie a key on a string around you neck? ) so i'm less likely to lock myself out--a while back, i had some extremely important keys on that keychain, the kind you never let out of your sight or physical control unless you're at home, period, and the quick check to ensure i have the keys on the lanyard is now second nature.
what has become apparent to me from talking with david however is that a feature that to most people is unnecessary or invasive may be for others a lifesaver, particularly when a similar system custom built could be prohibitively expensive. while it's possible to configure an easily-used text messaging system to contact emergency personell, it is much easier to press a single button and wait for a response, similar to the single-action ripcord design of an avalanche transponder.
anyway, sorry for the geekout, i have an engineering background and one of the more interesting courses in college was (and still is, CU-boulder still does it) a projects class, with one of the labs being "assistive technologies", basically, if you've got a disability, what's the best (given it's designed by frosh enginerds, best = coolest ) way to enable a person to do what they want/need to do?
anyway, the bottom line is that onstar is presumably easy to remove/disable if you didn't want it, but i can see many situations where it would come in handy, disability or not. i do turn on the GPS tracking feature of my cell phone when i'm in certain places, particularly anywhere remote or unfamiliar, especially where there's a chance of trouble...but otherwise it's off.
OnStar does have to be within cell phone range to work. The system is based on cell phone technology but uses GPS Satellites to find the location of your car and give you directions. If you want to talk to someone at OnStar or make a call then there has to be a cellphone tower within range. My buddy's dad works for GM. They have a Z71 Tahoe that is brand new and he doesn't subscribe to OnStar. A cellphone and Triple A or the Exxon Travel Club are a lot cheaper.
GM makes a weak point about being locked out in their commercials.I don't know of many carmakers out there that still allow the drivers-side door to lock with a key it the switch!
I'm not so sure about the cell tower situation, we live in an area where you can't use a cell phone, but we own a vehicle with onstar and can use it in our driveway, where our cell phones don't work. Unless onstar can pick up a weaker signal from the cell tower, or send out a stronger one than a cell phone can, there must be another method of acquiring a signal. As far as having it in a toyota, I wouldn't mind the ability to send out a call in the occurance of a crash, or some other incident requiring assistance outside of cellular communication, there is an extensive area I live with no cellphone works, and I know accidents occur on those rodes, as we get called out to them all the time for rescues.
On-Star works off the cell phone network, except for location then it uses GPS. I just got rid of a 2001 Yukon. I got a letter from On-Star telling me that my On-Star was analog, unlike the newer models that were digital. The cell industry will no longer be required to support analog after next December 31st, so they were warning me that my On-Star might not work after that.
I liked having On-Star, and would like to have it's equivilent in my Tundra. I could use it like a hands-free cell phone, with voice-controlled dialing. I never had to use the remote un-lock feature.
One feature I didn't have to use, but was glad it had was emergency notification in the event of an air-bag deployment. Hit something hard enough to deploy the air-bag, and they call you to make sure you are OK - no answer and they send emergency services. Also, one button gets you help - cops, ambulance - and On-Star can tell them where you are.
If your vehicle is stolen, they can track it with the GPS. Yes, a pro can remove the transponder, but there are lots of vehicles stolen by amateurs.
If you ordered the up-scale service, they have a variety of personal-assist things like finding you the nearest gas station, hospital, chinese restaurant, directions, and Concierge services like getting you tickets to sports and entertainment events.
) so i'm less likely to lock myself out--a while back, i had some extremely important keys on that keychain, the kind you never let out of your sight or physical control unless you're at home, period, and the quick check to ensure i have the keys on the lanyard is now second nature.
Linear Mode
