RE: Break-in capitals fingered
Wednesday 31st May 2006
Where is it most likely that your car will be damaged or stolen? Nottingham, Manchester and Sheffield are the car crime capitals of England and Wales, according to a report published last week by independent think-tank Reform.
Break-in capitals fingered
Where's your car most at risk?
The report's details are published in detail this week in Autocar, and are based on police figures for 2005 obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
Ranked top out of 57 cities, Nottingham suffered 40 car crimes per 1000 residents, while Ashford in Kent saw only nine crimes per 1000.
Using population centres of over 100,000, Reform analysed police reports of stolen vehicles and car break-ins. A spokesman said: "There were 400,089 thefts of and from cars in the cities surveyed, which was 54 per cent of all offences, despite the cities holding only 36 per cent of the population."
Autocar's car security expert Ron Cliff said: "Car crime is mostly a small part of bigger crime such as drugs, which are on the up in cities."
The Home Office poured cold water on the figures, saying: "This is a simplified analysis and the fact is that car crime is decreasing." Theft rates of vehicles have fallen since the peak in 1995, when 502,280 cars were stolen. Thanks to standard security kit, the numbers have halved in 10 years to 230,729.
Tips for avoiding car crime:
- Don't leave things on display when you've parked your car. Take valuable items out of the vehicle altogether, and if you have a removable panel on your stereo, take it with you.
- Always lock your car - when you're stationary in traffic, you're returning a trolley at the supermarket or paying for petrol. Many thefts are committed by opportunists at traffic lights, garages and in car parks.
- Consider visible anti-theft measures like steering wheel locks; they might make your car less of an easy target.
- Most kerbside thefts are committed by breaking a side window, so invest in security glass, which can be up to ten times more difficult to breach.
- If you use in-car gadgets like an iPod, a satellite navigation system or a speed camera detector, try to mount them in an inconspicuous place.
- Always try to park in a well-lit spot, and remember that the quietest street isn't always the safest. If you can park under the gaze of a CCTV camera, then do so.
- Never leave your car key in the car when you're not in the driver's seat; if your ignition is keyless, always keep the key on your person.
- Check what your insurance policy covers; you might find that it doesn't cover you against loss of items like laptops or other in-car electronics, or that it doesn't cover you at all unless you park off-street.
- If you drive something particularly rare or expensive, consider getting a satellite or radio tracking system fitted; it'll boost the chances of recovery.
- Finally, when you get home, keep your car keys in a safe, or a locked drawer; most car thefts today happen with the keys.
Photo by darb.net
Discussion
snorky said:
"so invest in security glass, which can be up to ten times more difficult to breach." and makes it impossible to get out when the car is in an accident....
It's not impossible to get out, you can open the window or door in most well made and safe cars after an accident, and I doubt they stand up well to a huge axe or angle grinder that rescue crews usually use to cut a badly damaged car open, let alone deformation if you roll the car. In fact the windows usually break better, because when they do break, they break as one piece so you dont have tiny bits of glass everywhere.
No mention there of using your well earned to purchase a really big gun and shooting the feckers. Oh, that would be illegal and would be an infringement of their rights as a law abiding criminal wouldn't it. Silly me. Best thing I ever saw was a flame thrower device fitted to a car in South Africa, notorious for car-jackings, which shot 10 foot flames out from under the passenger/drivers doors, frying the feckers where there stood. Brilliant. Again, an honest criminals statutory rights may be affected!
>> Edited by richiefly on Wednesday 31st May 12:57
>> Edited by richiefly on Wednesday 31st May 12:57
The harsh reality here is that from the moment you buy a car, you're running a risk, its just a case of minimising the risk as far as possible. My wife is a teacher and the kids at her school spend lunch breaks booting footballs at the cars and then scratch them on the way out at home time. And the school is not prepared to do anything about it. How's that for respect? Bring back thrashing. I wouldn't of dreamed of even touching a teacher's car in my school days for fear of public execution/stoning/you get the picture.
"If you drive something particularly rare or expensive, consider getting a satellite or radio tracking system fitted; it'll boost the chances of recovery."
...yeh use the Tracker and get it back in perfect condition so the insurance company doesn't have to shell out. Then find that when you come to selling the car, it is listed on the HPI register as 'stolen recovered' and you're left hundreds of pounds out of pocket
>> Edited by spunkym on Wednesday 31st May 13:22
...yeh use the Tracker and get it back in perfect condition so the insurance company doesn't have to shell out. Then find that when you come to selling the car, it is listed on the HPI register as 'stolen recovered' and you're left hundreds of pounds out of pocket
>> Edited by spunkym on Wednesday 31st May 13:22
article said:
Ashford in Kent saw only nine crimes per 1000
I find that exceedingly hard to believe. Still, given Kent Police's time honoured traditions of incorruptibility it's inconceivable that the returns are in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the leopard.'
rthurbin said:
Tracker... when you come to selling the car, it is listed on the HPI register as 'stolen recovered' and you're left hundreds of pounds out of pocket
Is this true?!
No, of course not. Other than condition alerts (A-D) the only time an HPI check will show that a vehicle has been stolen is if there is an outstanding police or insurance interest in it. Category D applies to vehicles that were either recovered after the claim had been paid, or where the insurer opted to write off a stolen vehicle with minimal damage.
koenig999 said:
Very topical, The Wife had her broken into at the Sports Centre tonight, to get the Tomtom mount and a few quid.
Not very happy.
Koenig
Sorry to hear about that mate, it goes on all over, fortunately since I moved house, all is well here.
Someone should come up with a device that pumps 100 000 or something volts through the car. And fit a video camera inside the car - I would pay good money to see that! I tried to think of something along them lines when I had my 944 as the badge kept getting nicked. But as they're alloy and not conductive and would also need a f*** off big power source, probably not a great idea eh! Wouldn't care, they're only about 12 quid mail order! Scruffy little gets...
Good of the home office to remind us all that crime is falling and its never been better - yeah right. How many stabbings over the weekend? Car break ins etc etc
What the drop in stats (if indeed there really is) probably show is that more and more of us feel the police are a complete waste of time and cant be bothered to report said crime.
Had my daily driver broken into at Euston NCP in Jan 05 they took 2 HP server books containing exploded diagrams of servers and a cheap shitty coat that I used when power kiting/buggying out of the boot - way to go! Didn't even bother reporting to the police, whats the point?
Biggest joke is on the way home I caught nearly every set of lights and sat along side plod van full of plod with broken glass window in full view of them all. Didn't get a tug and to be honest I really would have expected to. Maybe I should have been driving faster
What the drop in stats (if indeed there really is) probably show is that more and more of us feel the police are a complete waste of time and cant be bothered to report said crime.
Had my daily driver broken into at Euston NCP in Jan 05 they took 2 HP server books containing exploded diagrams of servers and a cheap shitty coat that I used when power kiting/buggying out of the boot - way to go! Didn't even bother reporting to the police, whats the point?
Biggest joke is on the way home I caught nearly every set of lights and sat along side plod van full of plod with broken glass window in full view of them all. Didn't get a tug and to be honest I really would have expected to. Maybe I should have been driving faster
Gixer said:So it didnt occur to them you may have broken into the car and nicked it? they were probably to busy discussing how many drivers they had zapped for speeding.
Biggest joke is on the way home I caught nearly every set of lights and sat along side plod van full of plod with broken glass window in full view of them all. Didn't get a tug and to be honest I really would have expected to. Maybe I should have been driving faster
On the "Traffic Cops" programme on BBC1 a couple of nights ago, they had a big feature on ANPR. The commentary proudly boasted that "due to the rapid decline in traffic cops on the road, ANPR is proving to be a big weapon in the fight against crime."
So, finally a tacit admission that policing has become all about cameras (of one sort or another), which will only encourage scroats, drunk drivers etc because the BBC's just told them (on their favourite program
) that they're much less likely to be pulled now...
So, finally a tacit admission that policing has become all about cameras (of one sort or another), which will only encourage scroats, drunk drivers etc because the BBC's just told them (on their favourite program
) that they're much less likely to be pulled now...Gixer said:
Didn't even bother reporting to the police, whats the point?
Isn't the point that it will go in the stats if you report it?
If everyone could be bothered then the government wouldn't be able to say that car crime has halved, etc...... and then might have to make a proper effort to reduce it.
Gassing Station | Motoring News | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff