The third stage is what happens to the occupants after the crash, and this was never really a part of a vehicle's design until GM created OnStar.
Until car companies start putting technology in cars that actively stops them from crashing into each other, the biggest opportunity to save lives involves getting injured people the best kind of care as quickly as possible. Indeed, thousands of people in North America die every year after car crashes because they don't get emergency help fast enough.
As a result, there's a hugely impressive committee of medical people and car executives and others in the US that is trying to push this idea into the public consciousness.
All of the car companies know the value of better crash notification and some of them have are working toward this, or even have early versions of the service already.
But nothing matches the sophistication of the OnStar system or its level of availability in as many different kinds of cars and trucks. It's not available on all of GM of Canada's models, but it is available on the vast majority of the vehicles the company sells.
The safety and security package is free for a year and then costs $24.95 a month, or $289 a year, though it's less expensive if you buy a longer package and sometimes it's included in the price of a luxury car. Check with GM's website or a dealer.
Anyway, whatever the limitations of OnStar, it's eons ahead of where the other big volume companies are. Ford of Canada, for instance, says its Wingcast system will not be on the market here until 2004, and goodness knows when Chrysler or Toyota or Honda or the Korean firms or VW will get their systems out, if they ever do. Some companies — like Subaru — are committed to using OnStar, and others should follow.