Car Dealerships Can Stop Your Car With This…

Too dangerous? Or just plain fair?

More and more people get car loans when they purchase a new vehicle and one would think that makes more and more people who intentionally or unintentionally forget to pay from time to time. To solve that, car places have a new secret weapon: starter interrupt devices.

The scary part? They could turn that switch off at any time. Yes--even while you're driving.

The device gets wired into a car’s dashboard before it rolls off the lot and lets the car place stop your car from running at any time if you fall behind on your payments. About 2 million cars in the U.S. have these already equipped as of 2013.

Scary instances.

The Times chronicles the experiences of multiple people who were dramatically inconvenienced or even put in danger when their cars stopped working because they were behind on a payment, sometimes just by a few days. One woman needed to take her daughter to the hospital because the girl was having an asthma attack and had a high fever, but her car wouldn’t start. Other people reported losing the ability to use their car right when their kids needed to go to school or doctors’ appointments. Some even talked about having their cars shut down while they were waiting at a red light or stop sign. One Las Vegas woman felt her car turn off while she was driving at high speed on a busy highway.