OnStar Stolen Vehicle Slowdown Helps Recover Carjacked Vehicle, Prevents High-Speed Chase

OnStar Stolen Vehicle Slowdown Helps Recover Carjacked Vehicle, Prevents
High-Speed Chase
Law Enforcement Officials Credit Service with Fast and Safe Recovery of 2009
Chevrolet Tahoe

DETROIT, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- GM and OnStar announce the use of OnStar's
Stolen Vehicle Slowdown (SVS) service to help safely recover a 2009 Chevrolet
Tahoe that was carjacked at gunpoint from a subscriber in Visalia, California.
This is the first time that SVS has been activated to help a subscriber in a
carjacking situation.

At approximately 3:18 a.m. PDT on Sunday, Oct. 18, Lindsay, California
resident Jose Ruiz and his cousin were carjacked by a lone assailant wielding
a shotgun. The perpetrator ordered the two men out of the vehicle, robbed them
of personal belongings and sped off in the Tahoe.

Ruiz was able to flag down a police officer to report the incident. He
notified them that his vehicle was equipped with OnStar, and requested that
the Visalia officers leverage the service to help recover his vehicle.

Once OnStar advisors verified that the Tahoe had been stolen and that the
subscriber had requested assistance, they were able to quickly locate the
Tahoe and alert the Visalia officers of its location. They were also then able
to initiate OnStar's newest stolen vehicle recovery service, Remote Ignition
Block, to ensure that if the suspect stopped the vehicle before the officers
were able to locate it visually, he wouldn't be able to restart it. Once
officers had the vehicle in sight, they requested that Stolen Vehicle Slowdown
be initiated. Once the vehicle had been safely slowed to a stop, the suspect
then attempted to escape on foot, but was quickly apprehended by officers
without incident.

Less than 16 minutes after OnStar was first contacted, Ruiz' Tahoe was safely
recovered.

"While this was the first time that we've used the Stolen Vehicle Slowdown
service, we have used OnStar in several other cases to help locate and recover
stolen vehicles. It's a valuable tool for our agency," shared Visalia Police
Department Sergeant Steven Phillips. "In this case, it helped us not only
safely recover a vehicle for a local citizen, but also prevented a dangerous
high-speed chase and allowed us to quickly apprehend a suspect. It's a win for
everyone."

While obviously thrilled to have his vehicle back, Ruiz was even more pleased
that no lives were lost and no one was injured in the incident.

"As soon as he took my car, the first thing I thought of was to call OnStar
because I knew they could get it back," Ruiz recalled. "It was a frightening
situation, but I know it could have been a lot worse. I'm very grateful that
OnStar was there for me."

Since launch in October of 2008, OnStar's Stolen Vehicle Slowdown service has
been deployed 38 times in a wide variety of situations, including rental
vehicles, thefts from dealers and on stationary vehicles in order to prevent a
high-speed chase from potentially starting.

In 2008, 334 people were killed in the U.S. in crashes that resulted from
police pursuits, according to the National Highway Traffic and Safety
Administration. Stolen Vehicle Slowdown helps take high speed pursuits out of
the equation, and reduces the chance that a subscriber's stolen vehicle will
be crashed during a chase.

"This situation allowed us to leverage our full suite of Stolen Vehicle
Assistance services - Vehicle Location, RIB and SVS," said OnStar President
Walt Dorfstatter. "This is the perfect illustration of how our services come
together for the benefit of our subscribers and the community."

How Stolen Vehicle Slowdown Works

Once an OnStar subscriber has reported a stolen vehicle to law enforcement, he
or she can call OnStar and request Stolen Vehicle Assistance. An OnStar
Advisor will use advanced Global Positioning Satellite technology to pinpoint
the exact location of the stolen vehicle which will be provided only to law
enforcement.

Once law enforcement officials have the stolen vehicle in a clear line of
sight to know conditions are safe, they can request that the OnStar Advisor
remotely slow it down. OnStar will then send a signal to the vehicle's
engine, reducing engine power and gradually slowing the vehicle to idle speed
while all other vehicle systems, including power steering and brakes, remain
fully operational.

OnStar has offered Stolen Vehicle Assistance services with GPS location since
1996. It now receives approximately 500 Stolen Vehicle Assistance requests
from subscribers each month, and has helped in nearly 40,000 requests over the
past twelve years. OnStar's suite of services also includes Automatic Crash
Response, Emergency Services, Remote Door Unlock, Roadside Assistance, Crisis
Assist, OnStar Turn-by-Turn Navigation, Hands Free Calling and OnStar Vehicle
Diagnostics.

OnStar's Stolen Vehicle Slowdown was put into production in October of 2008
and is exclusively on GM vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. The service is
included in the OnStar subscription that comes standard for one year on
eligible Model Year 2009 and newer OnStar-equipped vehicles. Subscribers who
prefer not to have the Stolen Vehicle Slowdown capability on their vehicle may
contact OnStar to opt out of the service at any time. The rest of their OnStar
services will remain active and unaffected. For more information regarding
OnStar's services, please visit www.onstar.com.

About OnStar by GM
OnStar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors, is the leading provider
of in-vehicle safety, security and communication services. OnStar is available
on more than 30 MY 2010 GM models. OnStar is standard for one year on nearly
all new GM retail vehicles in the United States and Canada. OnStar provides
services to nearly 6 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. More
information about OnStar can be found at http://www.onstar.com/.

SOURCE General Motors

Jocelyn Allen, +1-313-665-2790 (office), +1-313-378-8668 (cell) ,
jocelyn.allen@onstar.com; or Jim Kobus, +1-313-665-2791 (office),
+1-248-765-7928 (cell), Jim.kobus@onstar.com, both of OnStar Communications