Picture This: It's just after 5 p.m. on a workday. You head to the parking garage after a long day at the office. You approach the spot where you left your car, but your car isn't there. You call the police and hope they recover your vehicle intact, but there's little else you can do. Or is there?

OnStar recently announced a new service known as Stolen Vehicle Slowdown (SVS), and, much like it sounds, it not only tracks down the location of stolen vehicles, but it can slow them to a stop from afar.

Of the 30,000 police chases the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tracks each year in the United States, more than 300 result in deaths—often of innocent bystanders. In addition, more than 7,500 of these chases result in personal injury and more than 12,000 in property damage. The numbers are grim, but SVS provides one way to fight back.

Should OnStar subscribers with SVS service discover their vehicle has been stolen, they need only call OnStar to report the crime and help stop it while it's still happening.

Using Global Positioning System technology, OnStar advisors work with law enforcement officials to pinpoint the exact location of the vehicle. When authorities have determined the scene is safe for a slowdown, they'll ask OnStar to send the stolen vehicle a remote signal bringing it to a safe and gradual stop. The driver has use of all the vehicle's other functions (steering, brakes, etc.) but is unable to accelerate.