Car Theft Prevention

Most people will have experienced or know someone who has experienced some sort of car theft, whether it be a car break-in resulting in loss of expensive items or the car itself being stolen. All car owners must do all they can to help secure their cars so that it is either very difficult for a thief to break into a car or so your security measures act as a deterrent to the thief from even attempting to steal from your car. Vehicle crime currently stands at around 1.7 million per year, which the authorities claim is down from previous years. The biggest motivation for a person to do all they can to secure their vehicle is that most people use their car every day and really cannot do without it, also they are expensive things to retrieve and repair if they have been damaged in a crime related incident. In this article you will find many hints and tips which should be adhered to by all drivers in order to secure your vehicle and possessions.
The first thing to do is keep all valuables such as satellite navigation systems, loose change, CD radio fascias, mobile phones and laptops out of view, either underneath covers, underneath seats or in a looked boot, if people can't see anything of real value in the car, chances are they will not have a reason to break into your car. Thieves are attracted to these kinds of items because they are small so easy to steal and easy to sell on. Whatever you do don't make it easy for the average thief to enter your car, make sure all doors are securely locked, the boot is locked and that all windows are fully close, even the slightest gap could enable a person to insert an instrument and open your window.Most modern cars come with an alarm and immobiliser fitted as standard, if your car does not have these features, it could be worthwhile investing in them. An alarm can act as a great deterrent and attract unwanted attention towards the thief. An immobiliser basically stops the car from starting its engine unless the correct code is entered. Make sure you have a sticker which you can place on the window which highlights the safety features installed on your car, this acts as a great deterrent. Having these safety features can have other benefits such as brining down the price of your insurance because there is a less likelihood of your car being broken into. There are also further simple measures you can take such as purchasing a steering wheel lock and wheel locking nuts to stop your expensive alloy wheels from being stolen.The future looks very bright for car security measures, already there are cars being developed which incorporate biometric technology such as finger print recognition and iris recognition as an anti-theft measure, basically it works by only letting verified drivers start the car. Also there is technology already in circulation which lets you know via SMS text messaging if your car is being broken into. There is no doubt that these technologies and more will be introduced into the mass market in order to stamp out crime waves of car thefts.