Forget cell phones that can play music, take pictures and occasionally make a call, this cell phone system controls your car. It can thwart a car theft by stopping the car in its tracks.

The Block & Track anti-theft system was invented by 18-year-old Morris Mbetsa. The self-taught Kenyan inventor created the system that uses a combination of voice, DTMF and SMS text messages to issue commands to your car’s electrical system.

If someone starts your car, the system will send a message to your cell phone. At that point a message can be relayed to the car, issuing a command to shut down while automatically notifying the police. For the finishing touch, a listening device can even be activated to record the sounds in the car.

Way cool. Now just add some dye in an exploding steering wheel so the would-be thieves get marked up à la would-be bank robbers and we just might have something here.

The young inventor is looking for funding to bring it to market.

via io9