Car theft with keys continues to rise in 2010
The latest figures from TRACKER confirm that theft of cars using the owners’ keys continues to rise; 84% of all cars stolen and recovered by TRACKER in 2010 involved theft of keys. With a staggering £15.8 million pounds worth of vehicles reported to TRACKER last year as being illegally taken using the owners keys, the stolen vehicle recovery expert reminds households to safeguard their car keys at all times to avoid giving thieves a free ride.
“In 2010, the number of car thefts involving keys rose to 84%, compared to 80% in 2009 and 74% in 2008,” says Stephen Doran, Managing Director for TRACKER. “A 10% increase in two years clearly demonstrates how stealing vehicles by breaking into them has become much more challenging for criminals. The reality of these figures is that car thieves now need to break into homes to steal keys or worse, physically take the keys from owners by force.
“The good news is that each month Tracker recovers over £2 million worth of stolen vehicles and, to date, over 2,000 arrests have been made thanks to our recovery systems. By working in close partnership with all 52 police forces in the UK, TRACKER can inform the police of the initial location of the stolen vehicle who can then employ the precision of the VHF technology to track a stolen vehicle to its exact location. This illustrates how vehicle recovery systems can really help car owners close the net on criminals.”
TRACKER stolen vehicle recovery systems work like an electronic homing device. A covert transmitter is hidden in one of several dozen places around the vehicle. There is no visible aerial, so the thief won’t even know it’s there. Unlike other tracking systems, the device works even if the vehicle is hidden in a garage or hidden in a shipping container, offering car owners the ultimate in peace of mind should the worst happen.
Stephen Doran concludes, “The theft of the family car will have a major impact on that family, particularly given many families have scaled down to be a one car household. We advise people to reassess their security measures. We all fall foul of leaving keys laying on around the house, but the first line of defence should be to put them somewhere out of site, such as in a draw or cupboard. People should also look at installing a tracking device which should result in the speedy recovery of their vehicle in the event of it being stolen.”
For TRACKER Stolen Vehicle Recovery product and pricing information, visit TRACKER.co.uk.
