Your Car is a Bounty Hunter

When the term “bounty hunter” is used, most people immediately think of the popular reality television personality, who spends his time pursuing a diverse slate of fugitives across the United States. With the swift development and increasing popularity of autonomous vehicles (AV), at some point in the not-so-distant future, cars might be charged with the duty of bringing lawbreakers to the police, acting as a type of bounty hunter.

So, what if you’re leaving work one evening only to find an empty parking spot where your Tesla was parked mere hours before. You call the police and they ask you for permission to take over your car, which you give immediately. The car then receives the command to drive to the nearest police station. If the thief happens to still be in the vehicle when the police take it over, he will be locked inside the car until the police can arrest him. Although this seems advanced and futuristic, law enforcement is reporting that they are taking steps to test the possibility of stopping crimes by taking over autonomous vehicles. Police are working with the car makers because information about AV hacking is invaluable to entities up and down the line of AV manufacturing. GM has begun preparation for issues like this beginning in 2009 by equipping some of its vehicles with an emergency switch that can turn off the engine if the vehicle is stolen.