Categories
Prevention

Campaign update: Protect Your Car. Steps to take

The second of our information updates to accompany the 2021 Neighbourhood Watch Week which runs from 5th to 11th June. Whatever you, your neighbours or your members of your Neighbourhood Watch Group are up to this week, remember that the theme is around strong communities. So hopefully you can share the information we’re sharing this week with others. And if you want to tell us what you’re up to this week or get in touch for support then please do. Email me at karl@nelwatch.org.uk

Some facts and figures about cars and car crime:

– Due to Covid-19 and repeated lockdowns, people have been using their cars less than previously.
– Car crime has decreased during the pandemic but expected to rise as Covid-19 restrictions ease
– Alarmingly, one car is stolen every ten minutes.
– 44% of cars were broken into via an unlocked door
– 80% of car crime occurs during the evening or at night
– Only 46% of stolen cars are recovered
– Personal belongings within the car are at as much risk of being stolen as the car itself.

OurWatch are promoting a “Protect your car” campaign, and if you are a car owner, it’s worth a few moments of your time to consider how to protect your valuable vehicle.

Visit the Protect Your Car page on the OurWatch website here.
Or read their more general advice on protecting vehicles here.

We are encouraged to leave the car:
1. Locked
A simple mistake that can prove calamitous: 44% of cars
are broken into via an unlocked door. Leave your car
locked video.
2. Lit
80% of car crime occurs during the evening or at night.
Parking near streetlamps or in a busy area can deter
thieves. Leave your car lit video.
3. Empty (or with no items on show)
Owners often forget that personal belongings within the
car are at as much risk of being stolen as the car
itself.

Humberside Police have a guide page about protecting your car here.

Use this Neighbourhood Watch week as an excuse to think about how you keep your own vehicle safe and to talk to others.