C Speeding off in a stolen car, the thief thinks he has got a great catch. But he is in for an unwelcome surprise. The car is fitted with a remote immobilizer(远程控制器)and a radio signal from a control center miles away will make sure that once the thief turns the engine off, he will not be able to start it again. The idea goes like this. A control box fitted to the car contains a mini – cell phone, a micro – processor and memory and a GPS satellite positioning receiver. If the car is stolen, a coded(密秘编码)cell phone signal will tell the control center to block the vehicle’s engine management system and prevent the engine being restarted. In the UK, a set of technical fixes is already making life harder for car thieves. “The pattern of vehicle crime has changed.” Says Martyr Randall, a security expert. He says it would only take him a few minutes to teach a person how to steal a car, using a minimum of tools, but only if the car is more than 10 years old. Modern cars are far tougher to steal, as their engine management computer won’t allow them to start unless they receive a unique ID |