Car Security and Safety What You and Your Family Need to Know

Britain is currently referred to as the car crime capital of the world, which unfortunately means for you and I, that someday one of these undesirables may well take more than a casual interest in our pride and joy.

Most of us buy cures not prevention, why is this, when in most cases, cures cost us considerably more than prevention (improving our car security), in terms of money, stress, inconvenience and heartache?

Whether we are the victim of these crimes or not, the cost of vehicle crime affects all car owners, because the more claims the insurance companies deal with the higher the premiums we all have to pay. The insurance companies will not be the losers just because we are not taking our car security precautions seriously or are not improving our car security features why should they?

There are approximately 37.5 million vehicles in the U.K., approximately 27 million of which are cars. Vehicle crime is the largest single category of recorded crime.

If your car is stolen and later located by the police, what condition will it be in, will you even want it back again, assuming that it can be economically repaired? Over 30% of recovered cars are uneconomical to repair and a further 25% are extensively damaged.

• The thieves will probably at least have smashed a window or windows to gain access to your vehicle and then ripped out the steering lock in order to drive it away. They probably will have also stolen the stereo and other items, if not worse.
• Unless they are going to resell your vehicle by giving it a new identity, they certainly won't treat it carefully like you do, they may smash it, trash it, even set fire to it, to remove any incriminating evidence.
• They may be involved in a serious accident where they and other innocent people are seriously injured or killed, they certainly won't have insurance, probably not even a driving licence, they may also be drunk or under the influence of drugs.

If your car is stolen or broken into, it could mean: having to walk home late at night, weeks of expensive inconvenience, loss of personal possessions and almost certainly the loss of a valuable 'no claims bonus'. Don't be wise after the event, improve your car security now.

The installation of a vehicle tracking system is well worth considering on the more expensive cars and also on those that are popular with the thieves. See separate section on tracking

Laptop computer theft is on the increase, many drivers are now installing car and vehicle safes as part of their overall car security system. See our section on car safes

• The British Crime Survey estimates vehicle crime at 1.8 million offences per year,
• It only takes around 2 hours to completely dismantle a vehicle for its parts
• The retail value of the cars individual parts can be up to three times the value of the complete car. Many parts are in high demand to repair damaged vehicles and or upgrade existing vehicles, for example by fitting alloy wheels.

Road rage is an increasing problem, in which many of us have either been involved as a victim or have witnessed. Some of these seemingly trivial incidents can turn increasingly violent, even ending in death or serious injuries. Always try to avoid confrontation if possible. However, as I again know from personal experience, even this does not work with some of the nutters that are around. Some are just out looking for trouble, even when no prior incident has taken place:

Carjacking - stealing a car by force - a violent form of vehicle theft, which can pose a serious threat to our personal safety. Thieves tend to mainly pick on single occupant vehicles. On some occasions the car owners or other occupants are kidnapped when these crimes are committed, sometimes purposely and sometimes inadvertently, such as when sleeping babies are unseen in their child seats. Hopefully these victims are dropped off later unharmed, although there have been cases where some have been assaulted, robbed, raped or even murdered. Whatever the situation the victims of these crimes are often left badly traumatised by the events, especially those emotionally distressed parents whose child was in the vehicle at the time of the incident. Some victims are fearful of ever driving again.

Carjacking has increased since car security systems have improved and become more complex to overcome. Obtaining the keys to an unlocked vehicle in this way avoids the necessity of overcoming or disabling any car security systems or devices.

As reported in the national newspapers recently, a number of houses with expensive vehicles on the drives have even been broken into at night in the London and Essex regions. The occupants have then been forced to hand over vehicle keys while being threatened with guns and knives.

Our new book 'How to Protect your Family and Belongings NOW' contains hundreds of security and safety tips (including car security), for the whole family, both in and away from home. Its now available for instant download


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