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OnStar Accepts John Lynker Award for Excellence in Responsible Design
By Bill Ball
Executive Director of Public Policy for OnStar
I am personally and professionally pleased that OnStar was recently honored with the 6th Annual John Lynker Award for Excellence in Responsible Design. On a personal level, I knew John Lynker, a two-time president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and an influential auto voice in the nation’s capital who passed away in 2002. We met when I led GM’s government relations office in the 1990s. John was highly regarded by the Washington automotive press corps and I was lucky to have benefited from both his insights and from his exceptional reporting of the auto industry.
Professionally, the Lynker award is an honor, because it’s the first time the award was presented to an auto service provider, rather than an auto manufacturer. I’m just guessing here, but perhaps this award is best signified by the number 93.
On a single recent day, 93 OnStar customers had vehicle crashes severe enough to trigger a call from the vehicle to the OnStar call center. Those calls carried precise location information about the crash and, in our latest vehicles, information about the severity of the crash. Our advisors were able to provide GPS location information to the first responders, which we know is a critical success factor in responding to any emergency. In just one day, we helped people in 93 vehicles during what was potentially one of the most critical moments of their lives.
But it’s not just about 93. It’s about 12, too.
Twelve years of continuous improvement of OnStar’s services. With each generation of hardware, we’ve endeavored to explore the edges of this new frontier that OnStar helped open in 1996, and in doing so, OnStar is helping GM and the public define what constitutes a great car or truck. This isn’t a science fair project – this is an ongoing daily service that is contributing to the well-being of folks on the roads in a variety of ways, from Automatic Crash Response to Turn-by-Turn Navigation and monthly diagnostic emails.
We at OnStar are very proud of this award, and we will use it as a reminder of where we’ve been, where we are today, and where we’re headed for the future.
Posted by Editor on February 15, 2008 1:31 PM
