Using Vehicle Tracking Systems to Catch Vehicle Thieves

By Kent Stabler

Over 200,000 people suffer from vehicle theft in the UK every year. With car theft at such astronomical levels, anything that you can do to prevent your vehicle being stolen is going to be an advantage, saving you both time, money and keeping the cost of your insurance premiums down. Vehicle tracking systems and car tracker technology have become increasingly popular in the UK and can play a significant role in reducing car theft crime.

The advantage of vehicle tracking is that the movements of a car or van can be monitored in real-time, allowing the Police to respond to a stolen vehicle and reducing the recovery time significantly. This can mean a massive saving on expenses businesses face if their vehicles are taken, reducing the costs incurred by replacing stolen vehicles and minimising the potential for damage as the recovery time is so much quicker. GPS devices are small and easy to fit and is usually powered using its own, independent battery or by running from the vehicle’s battery. The system has other components such as Google maps or other location software, which is also installed into the owner’s phone or PC. This enables vehicle owners or those involved in fleet management to access real-time information on specific vehicles or even a group of vehicles.

Some vehicle tracking systems can also piggyback onto the vehicles immobilisation system, which can stop a car engine remotely if an alarm is triggered. Known as ‘Low-Jacking’, this system has proved to be popular in countries such as the US where vehicle theft is a major issue. Remote activation of the vehicle’s immobilisation unit combined with GPS tracking gives response units a specific target area to aim for to recover the vehicle.

The ability to track, locate and manage vehicles is critical to a company’s overall performance, particularly if that company relies on its fleet to carry out its daily business dealings. By using satellite GPS tracking, the location of any vehicle at any time can be monitored and out of hours activity can immediately send an alert to the central system. This could indicate improper use of a company vehicle by a driver or, more importantly, it could indicate that the vehicle is in the process of being stolen. A rapid response to this alarm can ensure that the vehicle is located and recovered quickly, minimising the impact to the business and reducing the cost of replacing or repairing a damaged vehicle. It can also have a significant impact on the company’s insurance policy as well, with many major insurers now actively promoting the inclusion of car tracking technology for commercial users and offering lower insurance premiums as an incentive to incorporate this technology into fleet management plans.

There are limitations to how accurate GPS devices can be. But in the UK, coverage is fairly comprehensive and the more satellites a GPS device can locate, the more accurate the information relayed back to the central system. Signal reception can be blocked by buildings, electronic interference, rough terrain and even dense foliage but continual research and development in vehicle tracking systems is eliminating these weak-spots in the system and giving vehicle owners comprehensive coverage across the UK. Installing vehicle tracking systems in the continuing war against car theft is having a major impact and is supported by the Police and government initiatives. Despite the initial outlay, the cost of installing a vehicle tracking system into a fleet of vehicles can, in the long term, prove to be financially beneficial and give fleet managers a more peaceful and worry-free night’s sleep!

About the Author: Kent Stabler – Marketing Manager – Chameleon Direct are suppliers of gps vehicle tracking systems, gps tracking devices, hands free car kits and speed camera detector equipment. Our vehicle tracking aims at helping improve your fleet management. With over 1 Million UK customers Chameleon Direct also provide hands free installation services.

Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=409260&ca=Business+Management

Read the original: Using Vehicle Tracking Systems to Catch Vehicle Thieves

Advanced Automotive Technology: Vehicle-To-Vehicle Communications

By Mike Trudel, Freelance Writer

With everyone over the age of 13 seeming to carry a cell phone, there’s a whole lot of texting and talking going on in today’s world. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that we are entering an age of advanced technology in which our cars will be in real-time communication with the cars around them. Our vehicles will be able to share useful data that will help us get to where we need to go more efficiently and more safely. Using a combination of global positioning navigation devices, short-distance radio communication and input from existing in-vehicle sensors, which is also referred to as Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), cars equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle communications (V2V) can tell each other where they are and calculate whether danger threatens.

Welcome to the world of car-to-car safety networking. And most intriguing of all, it’s affordable in comparison to much of the other advanced technology in the pipeline. All your car needs is a GPS receiver, an economical, short-range radio working at 5.4 GHz (the unlicensed frequency also used by WiFi) and a connection to the braking system. Of course, the effectiveness of V2V safety networking will never be fully realized until a majority of vehicles on the road are in the network, but that day may be here sooner than you think. And you won’t have to buy a new car to get in on the fun. Because the technology is uncomplicated, unequipped cars can be easily retrofitted at a very reasonable cost.

The prospects of such technology are dizzying and government agencies such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are looking to integrate DSRC into roadway infrastructure, including stoplights and traffic monitoring systems. And once the government gets its interest piqued, you can expect a lot of momentum directed at this technology.

Vehicle-to-vehicle technology is truly a big leap. If vehicles are able to communicate with one another, the need for traditional traffic control devices could become a thing of the past. Setting speeds based on road and traffic conditions is one possibility. Traffic also could be tailored so that more cars can safely occupy the same stretch of road. Delays and wasted gas at stoplights could be significantly reduced, and the cost of roadway infrastructure could come down. Traffic might be easily rerouted around accidents or road construction in an organized manner. A car-connected network of electronic information could give future dialed-in vehicles an automatic advantage over non-equipped vehicles.

A vehicle-to-vehicle-equipped car constantly sends information about its position, accurate to 2.5 meters (half the width of a highway lane), and its direction of travel (compass heading). Optionally, V2V might send data on the vehicle size – 4,000-lb. car or 80,000-lb. semi-trailer – and lane-change intentions, or at least whether or not the left turn signal is blinking. A driver’s car would receive data from other cars nearby.

Crash avoidance is also part of the plan. For instance, you’re traveling down the highway and a disabled vehicle is ahead on the road. Suppose you encounter a brief distraction that minimizes your ability to notice the disabled vehicle. As your car and the disabled vehicle begin to communicate with each other, the disabled vehicle’s brake and backup lights could begin to flash. On the IP of your vehicle, a warning flashes, the seat vibrates and the anti-lock brakes bring the vehicle safely to a stop, short of disaster, all with no driver interference. This type of networked communication could have a dramatic impact in terms of saving lives and saving money.

Naturally, there will be many potential features that will spring up as this type of technology begins to unfold. Some of us may not appreciate the benefits, as some of these features will likely raise privacy concerns. Similar to how some states utilize electronic toll collection through transponders mounted on windshields, V2V technology could take this type of tracking capability to a more wide-sweeping scale. There may come a day when you receive a traffic ticket in the mail, which includes highly detailed information including the exact location of where the transgression occurred, exact speed at the time of the transgression and perhaps even pictures of your vehicle while in the act. You may receive a revised automotive insurance premium notice from your agent, with a higher rate since it’s become obvious, now that you have vehicle-to-vehicle communications, that you were seriously under reporting your annual mileage, which can now be very accurately measured.

Clearly, V2V technology will have its challenges, but once we’re all connected, there can be no doubt that our roads will be safer places to travel.

About the Author: Mike Trudel, Freelance Writer.

Delphi Corporation is poised to apply its expertise and know-how to provide vehicle manufacturers and consumers with in-vehicle entertainment and connectivity. To learn more about Delphi Corporation, please visit www.Delphi.com/4Connected.

Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=335183&ca=Automotive

See original here: Advanced Automotive Technology: Vehicle-To-Vehicle Communications

Auto Pawn Loans – How to Use Your Car / Vehicle As Collateral and Get to Keep it Too

Did you know that you can pawn your car and still drive away in it? An auto pawn loan is a type of secured debt that uses a vehicle title as collateral. If you need a quick loan for an emergency and can’t depend on your credit rating to get one, an auto pawn loan can help you get the cash you need without having to give up your car.

How Do Auto Pawn Loans Work?
We’re all familiar with the way an American pawn shops operates. Pawn brokers lend, the customer, money for a fixed period of time and hold onto a valuable asset that is given up as collateral. Once the cash, plus interest, is repaid, the customer gets the asset back. If you fail to repay your debt, the broker gets to keep or sell the collateral.

Most pawn transactions use jewelry, electronics, firearms and other small valuable items as collateral, but a car title can also be used. Unlike traditional pawn deals, you can keep and use the car while repaying the loan.

Since, the lender takes a higher risk than a pawn shop, they charge high interest rates. However, when compared to the exorbitant interest rates charged for unsecured loans, the interest rates for auto title loans seem reasonable.

Most lenders who deal in car equity loans will lend you up to a certain percentage of your vehicle’s value to ensure they will make their money back if you fail to repay the loan. This value ranges from 33% to 50% or higher of the value of your vehicle.

How to Apply for an Auto Pawn Loan?
Applying for car equity loans are easy when you apply online. Make sure the lender has a secure website because you will be submitting sensitive personal information that could be misused for identity theft.

Applying online is convenient and saves time, but you could make an application by phone if you’re unsure about the security of your personal information. At some point in the process of applying for your auto title loan, you will have to speak to the lender to get approval.

As long as you have all the documentation required, approval can come as quickly as a few minutes and you could have your cash in hand in just a few hours. The document you’ll need is a clear car title that you have paid off or nearly paid off, which will be retained by the lender as collateral for the loan.

If you own more than one vehicle, an auto equity loan can be a quick and convenient source of cash for emergencies. You can use it to pay off urgent debts, make home and car repairs, pay for medical bill, dental procedures or student expenses.

Whatever you do with the cash from your auto pawn loan, make sure you have a plan to repay it diligently. If you default on your debt, it could destroy your credit rating further and make it even harder for you to get loans from conventional lenders.

Retrieved from “http://www.articlesbase.com/loans-articles/auto-pawn-loans-how-to-use-your-car-vehicle-as-collateral-and-get-to-keep-it-too-3753722.html”

Read this article: Auto Pawn Loans – How to Use Your Car / Vehicle As Collateral and Get to Keep it Too

Casino games, free casino

Do something useful for your spare time

Many things you can do to fill your spare time. If you really like to play card games, perhaps you frequently play casino games to fill your spare time. Especially now that many sites that provide free casino games and you can play casino games you want at will whenever you want, for free. Have you ever think to do better things under on your spare time by reading books or anything else that is more profitable? That is a better thing you should do instead of you wasting your time with things that are not useful. So, change your bad ability to better things.

Unearthing the Epson SX405 secrets

If you are looking for a multifunction inkjet printer, is probably something for the high specification, functions, and not seek to run cost a fortune. The new Epson Stylus SX405 all the promises of these things have an intellectual as it’s a compact Epson. chosen on the economic cost of the types of ink cartridges for your printer, Epson based cost $ 30 then it is reasonable in relation to competitors’ machines is not cheap. If you add real value for money compatible ink cartridges for Epson SX405 do are the right way because they are much more affordable 15th Performance as SX405 has very little to criticize is his incredible print quality for a printer in this price range, producing outstanding results, not only for text documents, but the pictures and everything else as well. The velocity, pressure is not so impressive, and can even claim that 34 ppm Epson, within a framework of quality standards, as well as he could manage 4 ppm. SX405 scanner is a fine line to save space, but it did not affect performance because it produces large exploration in a variety of different documents with a super-accurate representations of the original. The scanner copier used copier impressive product with a minimum of fuss and effort by the user works, and without the need for a PC. Another feature is independent of direct photo printing from a memory card or digital camera with built-SX405 memory card reader and PictBridge port. Photos can also be consulted and basic editing before printing on the LCD of 6 cm. Although the SX405 has a wide range of its functions is still easy to use and easy.