OnStar follows hit-and-run drunk driver, but GM to cancel analog-only vehicles

The gov't pigs actually tax the OnStar service, a lifesaving device. :-( Can you believe it? On the OnStar commericals, they say "16.95 PLUS tax." Well, they also tax food products. The damn parasites soak up our tax dollars, so they can spend hundreds of billions on dubious projects in some other country (Iraq) like building unused Olympic sized swimming pools in Iraq.

I hope some

There was a news story on the Shreveport Channel 3 this morning about another driver who was in a crash, and his life was literally saved by OnStar.

May be rare, but it happens.

This is the point where your story becomes forced. Yes - OnStar worked for you, but contrary to your assertion, so would a cell phone. GPS isn't at all necessary since all highways have mileage markers and marked on/off ramps to easily identify location. Fumbling for a cell phone in your pocket is a bit contrived. It takes a couple of seconds to get a cell phone out. Using a hands free device makes it even easier to use the phone while driving, but it's not even necessary. So - I agree that OnStar was a service to you, but you haven't made a compelling case for OnStar. You've really only made a case for an alternate technology, as nothing more than that - an alternative.

I understand your frustration because at the technology level, yes it should be pretty easy to convert to digital cellular. That said, for some reason GM has made a decision not to offer it, and I'm wondering if the aftermarket will pick up on this. There is certainly a sizeable one-time market out there. Maybe the renewal rate isn't high enough to justify the cost though.

This was a convenience feature for you. Everything can be deemed to be a safety feature if one wants to make it so by their own definition. The OnStar did not prevent the fellow from sideswiping you and it offered nothing more than what a cell phone would have offered you.

Onstar is marketed as a safety feature by GM.

Open up onstar.com and you will see the page name (which shows up as the topmost bar on most browsers): "OnStar.com, Car Safety Device and Vehicle Security System".

I guess in your view then GM is guilty of false advertising ?????

In my view, you are in idiot. OnStar is a gimmick. Yes, it can be very helpful, but so can a cell phone.

Will your cell phone automatically dial 911 when you slide off an icy road and hit a tree, when you are unconscious? Wow 80 Knight you must have a fancy cell phone.

just a question i wonder how many older onstar systems are still active, i mean people actually paying for the service, onstar wasnt very popular the first few years of use. i know i have had onstar a few years with basic service and a couple of years with full service and i only used it a couple of times and dropped the service after the first year. i wonder if the people posting here actually have and use their old antalog systems

Tom, I've had OnStar with the basic emergency subscription for 6 years and I used it 3 times for emergencies in Southern California:

1. Right in front of me, car and big-rig truck tried to change into the same lanes on the 57N freeway, car fishtailed several times, spun out and hit the center divider hard. No freeway exits or landmarks that I could identify, but I pushed the OnStar button and they sent an ambulance based on the GPS position.

1. Car spun out in the rain on the 57S freeway and hit the barrier on the right shoulder. There were several other rain related accidents within a short stretch so if I only gave an exit landmark to 911 they might have got this accident confused with another one nearby. OnStar got a precise GPS fix and relayed the info.

2. The latest incident, a drunk driver side-swiped my car and fled the scene on the 101S freeway in Hollywood. I followed while OnStar provided position to the California Highway Patrol. Allowed me to follow the hit and run driver safely while keeping both hands on the wheel.

I have also used OnStar a few times for non-emegencies. One time I had to make an urgent call home and my cell phone was not working, so I asked the OnStar operator to go ahead charge my card, add 30 minutes to my calling service, and I was able to call home in the middle of nowhere.

I used mine once during the first "free" year. Never renewed at $400. Cell phone, map quest, takes care of most of my needs. I think about AAA once in a while but never did that either. My new car has Roadside Assistance for 5 years.

No, it won't. And neither will your OnStar equipped vehicle, unless the air-bags deploy. If you were to only slide off the freeway, and side-swipe a tree, hitting your head on the drivers window, and going unconscious, OnStar would not be notified. I didn't mean any offence to anyone ('cept Horner). Yes OnStar can be very helpful, but IMHO it's not much better then a cell phone. OnStar has voice dialing, so does my cell phone. OnStar has GPS locating, so does my cell phone.

I agree. I will not opt for such a service.

Guess what you'd like, it's a free world. Just because GM markets it that way to appeal to the fear factor in some people does not make it a safety feature in my opinion. Like I said - you can call anything a safety feature if you want to.

I think you need to go out and buy OnStar. Just in case something really awful and bizarre happens. You never know, after all...

If it truly is a safety feature does your insurance company give you a discount for having it?

Yes, 21st Century Insurance gives a discount for OnStar.

My homeowner's insurance gives a discount for deadbolts - even those the doors are divided light window pane doors. A lot of good that dead bolt does, huh? But - the deadbolts are a "security" feature by some(?) definition. Likewise, insurance companies give discounts for a lot of things (defensive driving courses, ABS, and other things) many of which don't do a thing to improve bad driving habits, in the name of "safety". My point centers around the manner in which the term "safety" is so freely bantered around as if applying that word magically brings about some benefit.