Auto Crime - Keeping your vehicle safe from thieves
Imagine this scene: Your vehicle isn't where you left it. You think perhaps you parked it somewhere else. You figure it's been towed. Then you realize it's been stolen. You're upset. You're angry. And you're the latest victim of auto crime.
Vehicle theft rose steadily during the 1980s and 1990s. In 2003 it peaked when 23,600 claims were settled in connection with stolen vehicles. Those claims cost ICBC policy holders - including you - over $99 million.
Most car thieves are either teenagers or drug addicts. Their ability to steal is limited, as a result they focus mainly on a few 'high risk' makes and models. In BC few vehicles are stolen by professional car thieves for the purpose of chopping the car or shipping it overseas. The majority will be used in the commission of other crimes or for joyriding, resulting in a recovery rate that ranges from 90 to 95%.
In order to significantly reduce the risk of vehicle theft ICBC encourages motorists to either purchase a vehicle with an immobilizer or install an after-market immobilizer in their existing vehicle. Vehicle immobilization is considered the most effective means of protecting a vehicle. Effective September 2007, the federal government has mandated that all new vehicles sold in Canada be equipped with immobilizers.
The downside is that thieves will increasingly focus on stealing older model cars that have not been immobilized. If your vehicle is stolen it may be a total loss, or it may need repairs that, in 2005, cost an average of approximately $4,100. In either case, your vehicle will never be the same.
Since 2003, new initiatives sponsored by the police and supported by ICBC have resulted in a 32% reductions in vehicle theft. These initiatives include:
- Targeted Police Strategies - Target Teams, Auto Crime Month campaign
- Bait Car program
- Air One (police helicopter).
- Automated Licence Plate Readers (ALPR) - specially equipped police vehicles which identify stolen and uninsured vehicles by scanning the plates of passing cars.
