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Do you know that 100,000 cars are stolen every year?
I know the number sounds huge and therefore the blog is not only about how to prevent cars from theft but also includes vehicle theft prevention tips.
Let’s dig into the facts more, according to data for the 2018 year by the Police Department in Delhi, the least solved offense is a motor-vehicle crime. As per the data, 44,000 vehicles were stolen in 2018.
The Delhi NCR region is infamous for 56% of vehicle thefts in the country. In fact, the second-ranking city in vehicle theft, Bengaluru, covers 9%.
On the other hand, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Kolkata have emerged as cities with the least number of vehicle thefts in the country.
Besides, not only are there an increasing number of crimes in vehicle theft but also less number of cases resolved for the same.
The reason is the selling of expensive parts and components of vehicles. Some vehicles are taken to chop shops to be broken down for parts.
How to Prevent Cars from Theft? 17 Effective Vehicle Theft Prevention Tips
Below are the measures on “How to Prevent Car from Theft?”:
1. This tip is needless to say that you should ensure to park your vehicle in a secured garage/parking space.
2. Use the steering wheel lock to deter theft.
3. Invest in a GPS tracker that can assist in the recovery of stolen vehicles.
4. Use an immobilizing device – This method prevents a thief from bypassing your ignition and hot-wiring the vehicle with the help of either an electronic device or a non-electronic device depending on the preference of the user.
- Besides, this method also includes the steps like double-checking all the doors, including the boot and ensuring that those are properly locked.
- Prefer to use a detachable music system and ensure to take away the control panel of your music system while leaving the car for a long time.
- Fuse Cut-offs
- Kill switches
- Starter, ignition, and fuel-disablement
5. Install a quality video surveillance system ensuring that the cameras are placed properly for 24 hours.
6. Ensure to lock your vehicle doors and windows after entering and exiting.
7. Avoid leaving your vehicle unattended with the engine running, not even for a few seconds.
8. Avoid hiding spare keys inside your car or outside your residence
9. Avoid keeping your valuables and personal identification inside your car
10. Avoid showing technological and other removable accessories from view when you are not in your vehicle
11. Prefer installing anti-theft devices like –
- Ignition or fuel kill switches
- Steering wheel, gearshift, and hood locks
- Steering column collar
- Electric Alarm
Note – There are two kinds of anti-theft devices, i.e. Passive and Active anti-theft devices where Passive devices are the ones that do not need any manual activation when the car doors are shut or the ignition key is removed.
On the other hand, Active devices are the ones that require some manual activation such as pressing the pushing button or placing some lock over the vehicle component part.
12. Avoid leaving your vehicle title or registration number in the car. This is due to the fact that sometimes the thief is not caught as auto-generated the registration number.
13. Always know the path to your destination. Avoid going to an area where the crime rate is high even if that’s the shortest route.
14. The general psychology of thieves is to prefer stealing during the night therefore ensure to park your vehicle in a well-lit area.
15. Stay alert and observe if you find someone loitering around your vehicle in a garage, parking lot, gas station, etc.
16. Prefer to park your car on an incline with its wheels turned towards some obstruction. This technique makes it harder for a thief to tow your vehicle.
17. Also, get your vehicle’s identification number etched on the car. Usually, car thieves don’t want to take risks by replacing all the glasses. They generally want to get off cheap.
However, you should also be ready for the situation when your car gets stolen.
But what if your vehicle gets stolen by any chance?
Contacting the Police Immediately should be your first and Prior Step
- File an FIR at your nearby/local police station.
- Receive a copy of FIR which is required to file the claim.
- Contact your insurer to inform them about the theft and register the claim.
- As per Motor Vehicle Act, inform RTO about the car theft
- Be sure to submit all the required documents by your insurer, namely, a copy of your insurance documents, an original copy of your FIR, claim forms, a copy of your driving license, a copy of your RC book, and all relevant RTO forms.
- Besides the above-mentioned documents, ensure to submit your car keys for successful claim filing
- Ensure to collect no trace report from the police in case your vehicle is unable to be traced by the police. This no-trace report is required by the insurer to sanction the claim successfully.
Conclusion
Wait! In order to resolve your problem on “ how to prevent vehicle theft”, if you are pondering which GPS tracker to install in your vehicle, then I have got the best solution for you, i.e. Desktrack GPS tracker.
