Sure to be maligned by teenagers, OnStar will be offering 10,000 of its subscribers the chance to try out Family Link, a new optional service that will allow people to log on to a Web site to see the exact location of a family member's car or set up e-mail or text message notifications about where a vehicle is. According to , the service is compatible with , an aftermarket installation of a custom rear-view mirror that uses the OnStar service. This attachment sells for $299 and subscribing to OnStar service costs $199 a year.

According to , State Farm has partnered with Hughes Telematics to introduce a new vehicle services system called In-Drive that will let users receive speed and location alerts on their vehicle while another family member is behind the wheel. State Farm can also use the device to monitor driving habits, so if a person behaves well behind the wheel it could result in lower insurance rates. It's not clear if rates would get hiked if the company noticed unsafe driving.

Chicago-based Applus also announced vehicle tracking news. Its wireless vehicle telematics device, the A+ Tracker, has earned certification for use over the Sprint wireless network and can be programmed to flag anything from a teen's distracted driving to a taxi driver's excessive speed. Sprint is the first wireless carrier to enable the device on its network.

The A+ Tracker is a self-installed aftermarket device that captures and transmits data across more than 70 vehicle and driver-performance statistics such as vehicle speed, fuel use, hard braking, and emissions performance. Applus says enterprise clients and application developers can customize the A+ Tracker using a host of business and consumer apps that wirelessly connect the car to vehicle data services.

Several similar applications were unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year. But a focus on helping teens drive more safely is behind a number of projects from car manufacturers and insurance firms.