Stopping Car Thieves With an SMS

Car theft is one of the most common crimes in the United States, with almost 700,000 vehicles stolen in 2013, and a very small percentage of them being recovered. According to the Insurance Information Institute, less than 12 percent of all car theft cases that occurred last year were solved. Given that law enforcement rarely manages to recover stolen vehicles, many car owners buy various anti-theft devices to protect their cars and prevent a theft before it's too late, but none of those devices that are currently offered on the market, such as mechanical and electronic immobilizers, or alarms, are usually not very convenient and are often complicated to use.

This is exactly what an innovative solution coming from a company based in Africa - where car theft is also a huge problem - addresses, as it only involves installing a tracking device in your car and sending a text message in case the car gets stolen. "Sunshine Tracking", a car security company with headquarters in Nairobi - the capital of Kenya, has created a relatively simple system, that although does not prevent thieves from stealing cars, is very effective in helping the police locate stolen cars and recover them, and track down the criminals. Kelvin Macharia Kuria, the founder of the company, developed this product that consists of a tracking device installed somewhere under the car's dashboard, and relies on CCTV and GPS to track the car, which is employed in other similar anti-theft systems, but the fact that Sunrise Tracking's system is connected to the car owner's mobile phone and can be controlled remotely is what sets it apart from the competition.

The way this system works is pretty straightforward:

• if the device's sensors detect a car break-in, they alert the car's owner by sending a message to their phone.
• Once the car starts moving, the device transmits its coordinates at all times, not only to the owner's phone, but to the security company's control center, as well.
• After receiving the alert, the owner can immobilize the vehicle by sending an SMS to the device hidden in the car, containing a specific code word, commanding the device to cut the vehicle's acceleration function, eventually bringing the car to a complete stop.
• The owner then calls the police and lets them know where the car is currently and where it is headed, helping them to the car as fast as possible. Then, the car can be mobilized again through a resume command from the owner's phone.

Sunshine Tracking also provides a fleet management system, which companies can use to track their vehicles and know where they are at all times and which routes their drivers are taking, even if they don't get robbed or lose the car keys. On top of helping law enforcement recover stolen vehicles, this system may well help reduce other crimes, as well, since it will allow police to find the places where car thieves try to hide after abandoning a stolen vehicle more easily, thus making more arrests and taking more criminals off the street, which in places like Kenya, but also in the developed countries, is always more than welcomed.