Do your best to keep your vehicle safe from crime!
This Thanksgiving holiday, nearly 80 million Americans are traveling more than 50 miles from their homes. Likewise, people will be on the move for upcoming celebrations such as Hanukkah, Christmas, and the New Year. Most travelers are going by car or air, which means their vehicles will be parked in airport parking lots or other locations away from the safety of home garages.
Here are four wise ways to help keep your vehicle safe.
- First, having adequate automobile insurance coverage for vehicles is vital. Per Daniel J. Weber, President of Hometown Insurance Agency of West Islip, Long Island, NY, “We at our agency highly recommend carrying comprehensive coverage, which covers theft, vandalism, flood, wind and other types of losses that are not considered collision damage. We can even include full glass coverage as well. In many cases, we will recommend keeping this coverage long after you have removed collision coverage due to its minimal cost in our area and coverage provided.”
- Second, when parking your car, roll your windows all the way up, lock your doors and avoid leaving valuables inside your vehicle. Crooks seek easy-to-take items. Do not leave unattended luggage, cellphones, laptops, holiday gifts, and the like inside your car. Note that personal items stolen from vehicles may not be covered by standard auto insurance coverage, so talk to a qualified agent to see if personal property or special endorsement coverage can help. Additionally, avoid keeping your car title and registration in your automobile – as they contain valuable personal information such as your name and where you live.
- Third, park smartly. When parking in a public lot, choose spaces that are well-lit and frequently patrolled. Also pick spots offering good sightlines, as most criminals seek to go unnoticed. If you park in the street, turn automobile wheels toward the curb to make it more challenging for thieves to tow your car. For concerns related to catalytic converter theft, consider etching your license plate number on it or installing anti-theft devices to make theft more challenging.
- Fourth, make use of security technology. GPS tracking is one of the latest trends in automotive security. This allows people to track stolen vehicles or simply find the location. Also beneficial are dash cams with live streaming that can be accessed remotely and advanced alarm systems that do more than make noise. For instance, some can send instant notifications to your smartphone to alert you of unauthorized access. If you can’t afford to install sophisticated alarms, put anti-theft stickers on your automobile windows anyway to help deter criminals.
Auto theft prevention summary
The last thing you’ll want to see when coming back from a long flight is a smashed window on your parked car – or worse yet discovering that your vehicle is stolen! While there is no absolute way to protect a vehicle in public parking, there are some basic steps you can take for auto theft prevention. First, have adequate insurance coverage. Second, lock up and don’t leave valuables in your unattended vehicle. Third, park smartly. Fourth, use security technology to your advantage. A combination of the above can go a long way to keeping your vehicle safe and secure over the holidays.
Fifth:Drive a car that isn’t new or worth much.
In March of 2023 I had a 2011 Hyundai Sonata that was parked in my driveway. I had taken all the precautions that were discussed in this article but some young people broke the rear window, hot wired it and took it out of the driveway and went on a joyride. Then they abandoned it in a parking lot. The car was in such a mess that I had to replace it with a new car. The people were obviously fans of a certain social media website that had a video telling them how easy it was to steal certain make of vehicles. I didn’t even know it was stolen until I got a phone call from the police and they told me to look outside, I was shocked to see my car was gone!
Most states require you to show registration if stopped by authorities, so you must keep that in your vehicle.
We got a rather expensive antitheft device when we bought a new vehicle about 15 years ago. The truck was never stolen (as were the 2 trucks we had before that) but now we are having problems with the anti theft device and the “franchisee” for the AZ area has changed and the best they will do for us is uninstall for $200 or install a new device for 80% of the new price (still well over $1000). Given the currently expected rush to return to Mexico, even in this old truck I am reluctant to remove the device. There must be a better answer!