Third consecutive rise in stolen cars fuelled by careless keys
Drivers are being reminded to be cautious where they leave their keys after research revealed another rise in car theft involving keys.
Figures from Tracker – a supplier of vehicle tracking devices – show that 84% of all stolen cars recovered by TRACKER last year involved the theft of keys, amounting to £15.8m worth of vehicles.
This latest statistic shows an increase of 10% since 2008.
Stephen Doran, Tracker’s MD, said: "This 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 £2m 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. WIth no visible aerial, the thief is none the wiser.
Stephen Doran added: "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.”
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