The information highway accessible from your driver seat

Welcome to the New Year! Also, welcome the storm of the century! High snow accumulations and below normal temperatures. Oh boy! I know that there is a ton of information hitting the news about being safe on the road, and I already did a blog on it, so I think I'll touch on something else. The computing and interface systems of new vehicles. You're clinging to the edge of your seat, aren't you? I promise, I'll make it interesting.

If you haven't been in a new vehicle lately, you might be surprised at what it available. New cars are coming equipped with telematics systems. This means that they are able to help you connect your phone and media devices to the vehicle as though you were connecting to your tv or computer at home. Some of the cars actually have sd and sim card ports in the dash media center. These state of the art vehicles feature things like Google maps, weather and news updates via wifi from your wireless carrier account. These vehicles can record so much information about you and your driving habits, that insurance companies are beginning to offer incentives to let them download your driving information to get a better picture of the type of driver you are. This allows them to 'tailor' a policy for you...aka charge more if you drive fast, follow to closely or use hard braking and acceleration.

Government is also interested in what your car can do. New cars can be shut down remotely by an outside source for your convenience. I shouldn't say 'new' necessarily, OnStar has had the capability for a long time. What is 'new', is that data can be collected and your vehicle monitored as the government deems necessary thanks to the Patriot Act. Your car is now a giant, cruising wireless communication device. This makes you fair game.

Positively, traffic lights can communicate with your car and change if your sitting at a red light for no reason. This will create better traffic flows with lower emissions from idling vehicles. New cars can adjust driving and handling characteristics for your conditions. Windy day pushing you all over the road? The steering can compensate to help you stay at a constant straight ahead steering wheel position. Advanced vehicle diagnostic systems can alert a repair facility by email when your car experiences faults that trigger malfunction lights. There may come a day when, instead of a tow truck, a guy like me shows up and installs the part your car told me to bring.

It is the future. Look up things like 'The Internet of Everything' and information on vehicle telematics and you'll find more than you may have realized about future technology. All things connected, all things monitored, from cradle to grave. As that time comes, our company will be perfectly positioned to provide the services required by these new systems. Let's do it together!