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By Greg Bartlett

Vehicles today are not as easily stolen as they once were. The reason is that there is a variety of different tracking devices available that can aid in catching the thieves before they get very far with the vehicles and make recovering stolen vehicles easier for the owners. Vehicle tracking devices can come in several different forms.

Some people have added tracking devices that transmit a homing signal at a specified frequency that can be picked up with a special receiver. This is similar to the technology used by Lo Jack to provide information to police when a vehicle equipped with their system is stolen. The drawback is that only a limited number of police vehicles are equipped to receive Lo Jack signals. In addition, the signal is basically a hot/cold system that can tell police when they are getting closer to the vehicle but not its exact location.

Onstar has become standard equipment on GM vehicles. This tracking system makes use of GPS technology in combination with wireless telephone service to provide a method of contacting emergency services in the event of an accident or emergency, even if the driver of the vehicle is unconscious or unable to speak. The major drawback of this type of tracking system is that they are bound by privacy policies that make it difficult and time consuming for even the owner of the vehicle to establish his/her identity in a timely fashion in the event of car theft. Police officers have an even more difficult time establishing their identity to the satisfaction of the operators manning the Onstar monitoring facility.

GPS tracking devices that operate using an internet linked computer are available now for use by the general public. Businesses and individuals alike have found many benefits to utilizing these tracking systems. Foremost being that the tracking data is readily available to the car owner from any computer with an internet connection. This makes it easier to notify police in the case of theft and let them know how to find the signal and track the vehicle for themselves. All police cruisers today are equipped with an onboard computer that is capable of receiving these signals, unlike Lo Jack.

In addition to tracking stolen vehicles, businesses and individuals have found several valid uses of GPS vehicle tracking devices that can save money by reducing fuel consumption, speeding violations, and unauthorized side trips off the planned route by employees or teenagers.