It may not be immediately obvious but using the new vehicle tracking satellite technology could bring peace of mind to private citizens and not only be useful in commercial situations.

There are a number of scenarios that spring to mind. Take road accidents. In many parts of the world the greatest numbers of deaths from traffic accidents are among those aged 20 to 25. The combination of speed, the vehicle’s power and the newly-won independence of passing the driving test can be lethal.

How often do parents worry quietly but hesitate to make a fuss when their children first take to the road? Although a daughter going out at night may be safer from unwanted attention or attack by being able to travel door to door by car there is the same worry about the possibility of an accident.

Then there are the elderly parents, perhaps living in a rural village, where the lighting is not good and the roads are narrower and not in good condition. In rural locations where the public transport is often inadequate or non-existant, especially at night, people are a great deal more dependent on a car, so there is not only the worry of accidents but also of vehicle theft and the inconvenience of being stranded.

Perhaps a family’s pride and joy is a luxury car that they have saved for and finally achieved the dream of owning. It would be devastating if it were stolen.

GPS tracking installed in the car and linked to either a home PC or a mobile phone can bring peace of mind to families worried about their loved ones’ safety.

GPS stands for Global Positioning System and works by transmitting signals at intervals of as little as one minute giving its location (and speed) so that the car can be tracked until it reaches its destination safely.

In one situation the mother of a young person planning to take a gap year travelling around the world which would include a period of travelling in Australia in a hired vehicle. She was reluctant to be constantly telephoning or emailing to check her young traveller’s whereabouts but she knew she would worry so gave them a GPS system that sent her signals so that she knew where they were and could check against their itinerary.

The traveller, in the end, found it useful also, when they parked the van they had hired while going off on a day’s trek in Australia and locked the rucksack inside the vehicle. The tracker was set to create an electronic “fence” and to send the signal to their mobile phone.

When an alert sounded, they knew that someone had broken into the van and driven it outside of the “fence” and were able to alert the police, who traced and recovered the vehicle and caught the person who had tried to steal it.

It is possible to monitor the speed of driving by calculating the time it should take to make a journey and then monitoring how quickly it reaches its destination. While a young adult might not much like it a parent would know when they were taking risks and could perhaps talk to them about it. As long as it is handled tactfully using GPS vehicle tracking could take a lot of the worry away as the children grow up and start to lead their own lives.

Parents can use GPS vehicle tracking technology when their children first pass their driving tests and take to the road or go off travelling around the world for peace of mind, says Ali Withers.

Copyright (c) 2010 Alison Withers