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Once you’ve had a gun pointed at you from a car, taken down the license plate, then been told there’s nothing they can do because the car was stolen —- you’ll r
by matthewdgreen 3y ago
Once you’ve had a gun pointed at you from a car, taken down the license plate, then been told there’s nothing they can do because the car was stolen —- you’ll realize that car theft isn’t some individual problem. We’ve had the tech to solve this problem for decades, but car manufacturers decided to save a few bucks.
- zarzavat 3y agoThe easy accessibility of guns in America is not the fault of Korean car manufacturers either. What you describe is not something that people in most developed countries have to worry about.
- porkbeer 3y agoThe accessability of guns is not part of hotwiring kias, or even choosing to use them for crime. Gun ownership and crime are not strongly linked.
- soerxpso 3y agoThe tech to make it impossible to start a car without the owner's consent, even when the attacker has hardware access? Are you also selling magic beans and snake oil?
- jackvalentine 3y ago“We’ve had tech to solve this problem” isn’t the same statement as “tech to make it impossible to start a car without the owner’s consent, even when the attacker has hardware access”. Engine immobilisers cut out all the easy “jam a USB stick in there” attacks, The Kia Boys do not exist in Australia where they’ve been mandatory for 20 years. Lesson here for Americans - if you want something like this it has to be legislated. Cheap manufacturers will absolutely save a few bucks and not include it if they can.
- thewebcount 3y agoCase in point: My father was an EE at GM in the 70s. He told me one time that the company knew of a problem in some model from that era where when you made a hard left turn with the air conditioning on, the engine would stall. Fixing it would have increased the cost of each car by 15 cents, so they chose not to fix it. These models were later recalled. I don’t know whether the cost of the recall was more than the cost to have just done it right in the first place.
- porkbeer 3y agoIm a pretty big car nut, and GM is known for some sketchy stuff, but this is BS.
- ehnto 3y agoWhich is why many countries mandate immobilisers in cars. I have had my car stolen twice so this issue isn't distant from me, if it has become a state issue it needs a state solution. Individual responsibility seems to be the American preference though, on an individual level you have the ability to install an immobiliser, and being familiar with the car's features when you make such a massive purchase shouldn't be unreasonable.
- lostlogin 3y agoSo it’s the buyers fault. This is a darkly hilarious take.
- ehnto 3y agoWell it's no one persons fault, except the criminal obviously. But there are a few contributors, and I feel in the US's responsibility model defending your property is usually your job.
- lstodd 3y agoYeah, I had one with an immobiliser. By the third time it went nuts and blocked me from starting the car it took me about 3 minutes to reset it, and the tools were already kept in the trunk for just this. Now I live in a country where it's normal to leave cars with open windows and even doors in the street so that they don't overheat in the sun. Sometimes even with keys dangling. No immobilisers necessary -- only decent people are.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Ekaros 3y agoCouldn't a car be stolen also by pointing gun at the owner? The problem is the people the citizens that do these crimes. Not the technical implementations of vehicles.
- matthewdgreen 3y agoThey can but this one was not. It was taken from in front of a nearby house while the owner slept.
- maeil 3y agoThe fact that this phenomenon is only really seen in the US is enough on its own to conclude that this is an American political or social problem.