Car Thieves Could Be Stopped Remotely
" {' t/ ~9 H& @ Speeding off in a stolen car, the thief thinks he has got a great catch.But he is in a nasty surprise.The car is fitted with a remote immobilizer(使车辆不能调动的装置), and a radio signal from a control center miles away will ensure that once the thief switches the engine _1_ ,he will not be able to start it again.: e- }1 g1 x) c6 o: Y& l! v; n
For now, such devices _2_ only available for fleets of trucks and specialist vehicles used on construction sites.But remote immobilization technology could soon start to trickle down to ordinary cars.and _3_ be available to ordinary cars in the UK _4_ two months.
! F L5 p! a; { The idea goes like this.A control box fitted to the car incorporates _5_ miniature cellphone,a microprocessor and memory, and a GPS satellite positioning receiver. _6_ the car is stolen, a coded cellphone signal will tell the unit to block the vehicle’s engine management system and prevent the engine _7_ restarted.
- M4 `5 L8 D7 a# ^! O/ L( A& W1 M There are even plans for immobilizers _8_ shut down vehicles on the move,though there are fears over the safety implications of such a system.
, Z* n5 w2 q) M; N5 O! U In the UK.an array of technical fixes is already making _9_ harder for car thieves.“The pattern of vehicles crime has changed,”says Martyn Randall of Thatcham.a security research organization based in Berkshire that is funded in part _10_ the motor insurance industry.; F- W& P9 M8 V& n5 F0 M
He says it would only take him a few minutes to _11_ a novice how to steal a car, using a bare minimum of tools.But only if the cal-is more than 10 years old.
0 m" u+ C- F8 l9 ]! B2 Y- K Modern cars are a far tougher proposition,as their engine management computer will not _12_ them to start unless they receive a unique ID code beamed out by the ignition key.In the UK,technologies like this _13_ achieve a 31 per cent drop in vehicle-related crime since 1997.
! x, }/ N: s* E1 P2 k; W# W* B But determined criminals ore still managing to find other ways to steal cars.Often by getting hold of the owner’s keys in a burglary.In 2000,12 per cent of vehicles stolen in the UK were taken using the owner’s keys double the previous year’s figure.
* i9 }8 t- L9 G9 i4 r Remote-controlled immobilization system would _14_ a major new obstacle in the criminal’s way by making such thefts pointless.A group that includes Thatcham,the police,insurance companies and security technology firms have developed standards for a system that could go on the market sooner than the _15_ expects.
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