New anti-theft product debuts

Use your phone to protect your P&J

By PH Staff / Tuesday, 6 December 2005 / Loading comments

Do you always have your phone with you in the car? If so, a new service that stops the car being started unless the phone is present might help reduce the chances of the car being stolen.

Theft of car keys is the fastest-growing type of car theft, having risen by 80 per cent since 2002 according to the Association of British Insurers. So possession of car keys is sometimes not enough to ensure that only the car's owner drives it away.

A new system called Autotxt identifies a car as stolen if the car is started with the keys but the mobile phone is not present. When the police are following a stolen car, Auto-txt allows them to track the vehicle and prevent it restarting once the ignition is turned off.

According to supplier Richmond Design & Marketing (RDM) Group, it's also the first stolen vehicle protection and tracking system to have been awarded Thatcham's Category 5 accreditation -- the top-end category. Category 5 requires that for improved security you need something else in addition to the keys to prove that you are the car's legal owner. In the case of Auto-txt this is via the Bluetooth facility on a mobile. Thatcham is the motor insurance industry research centre which aims to develop research and standards that contain or reduce the cost of motor insurance claims.

Once a stolen car is stationary with the engine switched off, police can authorise Auto-txt to disable the vehicle without having to attend the car.

Auto-txt costs £279 for the standard tracking system and from £349 with the remote disabling feature.