FCA announced a technology that will enhance safety for police officers working in parked vehicles. The Officer Protection Package detects movement behind police vehicles using cameras and radar and warns the driver. The plan is to implement the module in all 2017 Dodge Charger Pursuit law enforcement vehicles, which are the best-selling high-performance police vehicles in the U.S.
The new feature comes from a collaboration between FCA US and InterMotive Inc. of California. It will be provided at no cost to law enforcement agencies.
“This technology is designed to prevent an officer from being ambushed from the rear while parked,” Jeff Kommor, Vice President of U.S. Sales Operations, Fleet, and Small Business Sales, said in the press release. “While it does not replace vigilance, this technology acts as a second set of eyes and provides police officers with added peace of mind when they are in a parked Charger Pursuit.”
Ambushes of police officers last year pushed agencies to seek technology of this sort, according to Intermotive.
The Officer Protection Package comes into play when an officer is pulled over and working inside his or her vehicle. While focused on the task at hand, the officer may not sense somebody coming up behind their vehicle. The package uses the Charger Pursuit’s existing rear park assist system and rear backup camera to alert the officer of movement.
It is a simple installation to attach the module, which can be secured under the dash and plugged into the OBDII port. To activate it, officers press the Aux 1 button.
Activating the Officer Protection Package also turns on the reverse sensors, which sound a chime when tripped. Upon alert, the officer can see what’s behind the vehicle via the camera display. The doors also lock, the front windows roll up, and the taillights flash.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.