Florida resident Linda Elam doesn’t usually hear from her daughter during the workday.
“I usually get 10 minutes from her in the morning and 10 minutes on her way home at the end of the day,” Linda says. But recently, 23-year-old Shannon, an illustrator who lives in Asheville, N.C., called to talk with her mom during her lunch hour.
“Suddenly she was screaming and I heard a loud noise,” Linda says.
A truck driver had sped across three lanes of highway traffic and crashed into Shannon’s car. Fortunately for both women, Shannon drove a Chevrolet Cobalt with OnStar Automatic Crash Response,
“Within seconds I heard a male voice,” Linda says. “I was confused because I knew she was alone in the car. Then I realized it was the OnStar Advisor asking her if she was OK, if there was anyone else in the car, if she was injured, and where she had pain.”
Although the Advisor couldn’t hear Linda, it comforted her to hear him talking to Shannon and to know that someone was there for her daughter when she needed help. “He reassured her that help was on the way and calmed her down. It was just amazing.”
Shannon’s hand was hurt in the crash but her injuries weren’t severe. She plans to resume drawing after completing physical therapy. And mother and daughter are looking forward to spending quality time together soon.
Linda, who is a real estate agent and spends a great deal of time in her vehicle with clients, was so impressed she plans to get an OnStar-equipped vehicle to replace her own car, which has 165,000 miles on it.
“I don’t think people can completely understand what OnStar does until you need it,” Linda says. “It has such unique value. You don’t think you need it until something like this happens.”
Find out more about Automatic Crash Response and other OnStar Emergency Services.
