Hundreds of cars are stolen every day in the UK. There were nearly 50,000 stolen cars throughout 2017. Or even, one every five minutes. Some more shocking figures for you – 40% of the stolen cars were due to valuables being left in plain view of thieves. Here are five, relatively common sense, easy ways for you to keep your car safe this year.
• Hide your valuables.
This is one of the most important steps to keeping your car safe. Leaving a purse, wallet or laptop in your car in plain sight is like fishing with extra bait. It’s easy for a thief to break into your car if they feel like they’ll gain from it. Make sure you don’t give them that excuse.
• Always lock your car.
As daft as it sounds, the number of cars that get found after being stolen with their doors unlocked is huge! To a thief, open car doors is practically an invitation to steal the car. In this cold weather, it’s easy to leave the car on the drive to warm up – don’t risk it!
• Park in a well-lit and visible area
Try not to leave your car in dark streets with little surveillance. The safest place to park is next to a street lamp. The key is to deter thieves, if your vehicle is in clear view of passers-by all night, they will think twice about breaking in.
• Invest in a steering wheel lock
It may seem old school, but nothing works better than a steering wheel lock, does it? It’s sturdy and is a visible deterrent to thieves. With the rise of keyless car thefts, the steering wheel lock is the best bet to protect your car.
• Get a tracker!
Fitting a tracker to your car may not deter the thief in the first instance, but thieves tend to ditch a car for a day or two to see if it has a tracker. If it does, your chances of recovering your car are much higher.
As well as the above points, having the right insurance in place to minimise the financial impact of the theft is essential.
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