There are a few ways a high speed chase typically ends: the cops call it off and the guy who jacked your ride gets away with it, the carjacker decides to stop and give up, or your car ends up in a wreck. Not exactly the best scenarios, considering the odds of him giving up, or the cops stopping him, without damaging your car are slim. It'd be great if there was a way to remotely slow the car so 5-0 could nail him without a 100-mph, red light-blowing, chase through city streets. OnStar thought so too.

They just announced their Stolen Vehicle Slowdown service for OnStar subscribers, as an added feature to its Stolen Vehicle Assistance, which uses GPS to locate stolen cars. I got a chance to try it out last month in Dallas, and it's pretty impressive. Here's how it works: Your car gets stolen. You call the police and tell them you have OnStar Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. They contact OnStar and ask them to locate the car. OnStar uses GPS to find the car and remotely flash the front and rear lights, making it easier for cops to get a visual on it. Nothing inside the car alerts the thief that anything is happening. And only the police are notified of the car's location.

Once the cops have eyeballs on the car, and feel conditions are safe, they can request that OnStar slow it down. A remote signal gets sent to the engine, limiting the fuel and bringing the car down to idle speed, no matter how hard he floors the pedal. (All the other systems stay active, like power brakes and power steering, so the car stays in control.)

During my demo, I tried everything to get the car to go above a crawl, but no dice. Even the most donut-laden officer could catch have caught me on foot. A great way to keep your ride in your driveway, but without high speed chases what are Los Angelinos going watch on TV?

Head over to OnStar.com to see the video demo and to get more info.