Shocking Statistics For Stolen Vehicles
Been and gone are the days of a thief hotwiring a car but it seems thieves have turned to a more traditional method, car keys. You wouldn’t expect that 46% of vehicles that where stolen during 2011/2012 were taken from using the offender using a key would you? Well it’s true and it’s a massive rise on that of 2010/2011 where only 20% of vehicles where thieved using a key which was in fact the previous record. The fact thieves have seen success through robbing the key of the owner is ridiculous, people should keep their keys safe at all times even at home.
Why have burglars turned to using a key? With the security systems fitted to cars the incorporate locks, immobilisers, alarms and more it’s becoming increasingly hard for thieves to get their hands on cars that are easy. The way the keys often get stolen is from either coat pockets or from people’s houses after offenders either walk in freely or force themselves in. The statistic that highlights the issue is people leaving their doors open with 9% of people being robbed after their doors had been left unlocked. The vehicles that where managed to be recovered 70% of which were damaged of which 26% where written off or beyond repair which is shocking, another 22% had extensive damage and only 26% had moderate or slight amount of damage. All the more reason to keep your keys in sight at all times, no matter if your house door is locked or not.
You’re not always safe however if you just keep your key by you, not all the thieves use YOUR key for YOUR car, there is such thing as cloned keys. Cloned keys are mostly used on prestige vehicles the problem with this however is that they can actually bypass your security systems no matter how good or safe your car is there for manufacturers are urging customers to enhance the safety of their vehicle. Some good things you can use to enhance the safety are things such as a steering wheel or gear level lock which takes a long time for the robber to remove and will put them off wanting to get their hands on your car. Another thing to do is get your hands on a sticker that says your car has a tracking system, even if it doesn’t (the thief doesn’t know!) especially if the car is highly desirable.