I recently purchased a new car and I live in a dangerous neighborhood. How can I prevent my car from being stolen?
Purchasing a new car is a large investment, and in order to make sure that you are properly taking care of it, you must have insurance with proper coverage and you personally should try to take care of it and make it as safe as possible.
Kevin Kelly, traffic safety specialist for the California State Automobile Association and a 25-year veteran with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) suggests that you should do everything you can in order to make your “car inconvenient to thieves”.
The first thing Kelly suggests is for you to “lock your car and take your keys”. Kelly claims, “Car theft is a real time crime of opportunity. When the bad guys see an easy mark, they’ll take it.”
Here are some tips that Kelly has to offer for drivers:
- Kelly warns drivers not to leave a spare car key in the vehicle, because car thieves “know where to look”.
- When parking your car, close car windows and the sunroof
- Your vehicle registration, proof of insurance and other important vehicle information should be with you, not in your car. Kelly claims, “your vehicle pink slip should be kept wherever you keep your valuable papers – (and) not in your wallet.”
- Don’t leave anything with your personal information on it (name, address, social security number, etc…)
- Do not leave your car with the monitor running. Kelly claims, “sometimes people on a cold morning warm up the car then race back inside to gather your work supplies
- Set the brake and turn your car wheels directly toward or away from the curb
- Do not leave items in plain sight on car seats or on the floor; it will tempt the thieves to get into your car
- Steering wheel locks and burglar alarms will help protect your car
- If you have a manual transmission, leave your car parked in first gear or in reverse. Otherwise, use the parking gear.
- Your car will be much safer it is in a driveway rather on the street. However, it will be even safer if it is locked in a garage.
- If you are parking on a street, don’t park your car in a dark alley; park it on a street where there are constant lights and people