Christy Skelton wasn’t sure about enrolling in OnStar when she purchased her 2016 Chevrolet Malibu in February.
“I knew what OnStar was. I just assumed it was there for emergencies,” she says. In her 51 years, Christy had never had a crash or called for help on the road. So she figured there was little reason to enroll in a service plan after her trial plan ended.
But that would all soon change.
On May 11, Christy was sitting in heavy traffic when she noticed a car approaching in her rearview mirror. At full speed.
“That’s the last thing I remember until OnStar woke me with a voice,” Christy says. The vehicle had plowed directly into the back of her Malibu, activating OnStar’s Automatic Crash Response.
“I heard the Advisor say, ‘This is OnStar; you’ve been in an accident. Are you OK? Do we need to call for help?’ Then I realized what was going on,” Christy says. “Apparently, I hit the car in front of me, which hit the car in front of it, and my car ended up on the grass embankment.”
Soon, a woman came to Christy’s door wanting to get her out. “I thought I saw smoke,” says Christy.
However, the OnStar Advisor said Christy needed to remain seated, explaining what she thought was smoke was actually dust from the air bag. “The Advisor remained very monotone, she was very calming. She said help was on the way.”
Christy wanted to call her husband but realized she had lost her cell phone during the crash. Luckily, she’d added those numbers to her account. “OnStar was my personal secretary. They had all of my contacts and the most important one. The Advisor said she was contacting my husband.”
Five minutes later, help arrived. “My Malibu served me well,” says Christy, who is now in physical therapy for muscle injuries.
Now, Christy uses OnStar in her 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. “I’m a lot more comfortable that OnStar is there. I used to use my phone for directions, but I pushed the blue OnStar button in my car and asked my Advisor if I have Navigation.
The six-hour excursion will be Christy’s first long drive alone since the crash. “My husband is nervous, but I was telling him that if anything goes wrong, I have OnStar and I have him. It’ll give him confidence. It really feels like somebody is actually there with you.”