General Motors’ Onstar ‘Crisis Mode’ facilitated the salvation of several stranded drivers during floods in Texas – Jalopnik

As the endless attack of unprecedented events continues, the world is confronted with extreme temperatures and natural disasters with an accelerated speed. Floods have destroyed regions throughout the country and one of the scariest places to be in a flash flow is in a car. Parts of Texas and New York were destroyed by floods at the beginning of last month, but in a rare bit of good news, the Onstar services of General Motors facilitated the rescue of several drivers who were caught in dangerous situations. Onstar has recently been in hot water for selling data from the driver, but the services may still be a life -saving.

Onstar has a program called Crisis Mode that offers free emergency services to everyone in a GM vehicle equipped by Onstar in a region that is experiencing a crisis. GM reports that his Onstar services immediately supported a dozen successful rescue operations in the recent floods and it answered a total of more than 4,000 crisis calls. In most cases, Onstar advisors sent drivers to safe evacuation routes and they avoided dangerous routes, as well as offering free Wi-Fi support to enable owners to contact their loved ones.

Driving flood waters is extremely risky; According to the National Weather ServiceIt can only cost 12 centimeters running water to wipe away a vehicle. Often drivers will try to drive through flooded areas, and their car will die in a deep place that looks them inside or they stones on top of their vehicle. GM shared two anecdotes about how Onstar the rescue of two stranded parties facilitated a disabled parents in Texas, and a driver in New York who had a young couple and their three-month-old baby in the car.

The older couple of Texas sent an emergency call to Onstar when they got stuck in a flood in their vehicle, with water that rose in their car and moved their car in the flow of the flood water. OnStar -Spar -advisor Tiarra Duncan sent their precise location to local public safety teams and helped the couple stay safe until fire brigade rescuers arrived to help them in safety.

The driver of Rideshare and their passengers were stranded in rising flood water under a viaduct in New York and called on Onstar for help. OnStar -Spar -advisor Barb Lucas kept the group calm, while their team contacted local public safety and shared their precise location. Lucas instructed the group to evacuate the vehicle and walk to high tide and was able to convince the reluctant driver of the journeys to temporarily leave their vehicle to get to safety. To prevent the contact from losing, Lucas called the driver’s mobile phone to stay in contact, and as soon as the flood water withdrew, she coordinated the help with the road to collect the driver’s vehicle.

It is admirable that GM offers free use of its different Onstar services to owners in times of crisis, and these newest disasters show what a useful source it can be for some drivers. If your area experiences flooding, it is still the safest to prevent it from having to drive on flooded roads where possible to prevent life -threatening situations.