European police officials will soon be granted the power to control any car on the road as the European Union is secretly developing a "remote stopping" device to disable vehicles with the click of a switch.
The EU is planning to fit a "remote stopping" device into all cars shipped to Europe. This will enable the police control room to switch off a car's engine. Confidential documents from a senior officers' secret committee revealed the ongoing discussions to improve surveillance across the nation, Daily Telegraph reports.
An integrated kill-switch in a consumer vehicle will eventually put an end to high-speed chases, mostly resulting in tragic accidents of both guilty and innocent victims. The control of the vehicle with police officials will brick the vehicle at any time, similar to what Renault does with its electric vehicles like Zoe, if the owner fails to pay the monthly lease.
The technology will not be implemented right away, it might take as much as a decade. The secretive police officers committee laid out the plan for a six-year development timetable. According to the Telegraph, Statewatch, a watchdog monitoring police powers, state surveillance and civil liberties in Europe, leaked the restricted documents as they pose a threat to civil liberties.
"We all know about the problems surrounding police stop and searches, so why will be these cars stopped in the first place," Telegraph quoted Tony Bunyan, director of Statewatch, as saying. "We also need to know if there is any evidence that this is a widespread problem. Let's have some evidence that this is a problem, and then let's have some guidelines on how this would be used."
A similar technology is used in some GM vehicles, called the OnStar system, and the U.S. police officers use them as a bait to fool criminals into stealing them. The system, when activated, will shut down the engine and impose an immediate lockdown of the vehicle. The culprit gets trapped inside and later arrested by the authorities. This avoids unnecessary chases and property and life damage during the pursuits.
