Comments on: Parents Buy In-Car Spy

By: The Ninjalectual

The Ninjalectual — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 05:23:12 +0000

I wonder if she’s 18. She’d be cute once you get underneath that mane. I’d get in the backseat of that Hyundai anywhere (under the speed limit).

By: Nopanegain

Nopanegain — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 00:47:32 +0000

A similar device has been available at aftermarket car audio dealers under the Viper/Clifford/Hornet brands of Directed Electronics. I would not be surprised if Safeco sources the unit from Directed.

But, in reality, all you can do is hope you did a good job raising your children. My father installed a similar system in me by stating “Son, I know about cars. And I’ll know if you have been beating on yours. And I’ll take the damn keys away.” I still drive like an egg is under the accelerator on a daily basis…

By: kansei

kansei — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 22:43:07 +0000

How about we just ban bad parents from having children.. teach your kids to be responsible and resist peer pressure and you won’t have to use this BS device.

By: Luther

Luther — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:28:47 +0000

Actually, having a daughter, I would prefer a back-seat heat detector alarm.

By: Glenn Swanson

Glenn Swanson — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:08:00 +0000

pfingst: Off topic, but I haven’t seen hair that big since at least 1992.

She does have big hair. :-) BTW: No poodles were harmed in the making of this news blog. ;-)

By: TheNatural

TheNatural — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:04:07 +0000

The family drive a Hyundai, let her wreck it, just hope you have GAP!

By: pfingst

pfingst — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 19:58:03 +0000

Off topic, but I haven’t seen hair that big since at least 1992.

By: Martin Albright

Martin Albright — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 19:55:10 +0000

Of course, any old beater that a kid buys to fix up probably wouldn’t qualify for this program (and how, exactly, would the parent in question get the car away from the kid long enough to take it to the electronics shop to have the electronic tattletale installed?)

Which means that the kinds of vehicles that are most in need of this kind of “surveillance” are also the ones least likely to actually have it.

By: SherbornSean

SherbornSean — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 19:40:04 +0000

Comedian,
Great point. But each parent individually has incentive to install this device, because it would force their kids to use someone else’s car. This way their kid won’t be the driver at fault, and it won’t hit their insurance.

Of course, it would also be pushing kids to take less safe cars, assuming only those parents with recent, safe cars install. Not good.

By: The Comedian

The Comedian — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 19:35:39 +0000

This will only work to slowly move the burden of driving to kids whose cars don’t tattle.

By: Ryan Knuckles

Ryan Knuckles — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 19:18:15 +0000

I would be an advocate of vehicular Darwinism, if it were not for all of the collateral damage.

By: Megan Benoit

Megan Benoit — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 19:12:41 +0000

Seconded. Let’s pass on the text message, shall we? How about an automated text message to the local PD reporting grand theft auto, instead?

By: Stephan Wilkinson

Stephan Wilkinson — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 19:07:39 +0000

Funny, my thought exactly when I read that line.

By: Frank Williams

Frank Williams — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:53:31 +0000

the gadget can trigger an email notification to parents, along with a text message to the offending party.

Oh boy. Not only will we have teenagers driving recklessly, but now they'll also be reading a text message telling them they're driving recklessly while they're driving recklessly! Combine this with an in-car camera and show your teenager you really don't trust him or her.