With your eye on the weather and your mind on holiday, your car is at greater risk of being stolen during the festive season than at any other time of the year. Cars are predominantly stolen or hijacked during the festive season, peaking at an average of 500 cars per month higher than the norm.

Niresh Reddy of the Vehicle Security Association of South Africa (VESA) has some sensible tips to keep your car and year-end shopping safe this silly season. Although car alarms and immobilisers go a long way to securing your car, staying vigilant is just as essential for keeping your car safe:

  1. Don't leave bags in plain view on the back seat
  2. Use your gear lock and steering wheel lock
  3. Lock all your doors and windows, even if it's a boiling hot day, and don't forget to also secure the sunroof.
  4. Use your immobiliser and ensure that it is functioning, since even if the light is flashing the immobiliser may be malfunctioning — consider having it checked by a professional.
  5. Don't leave your keys in the ignition even if you just quickly run into the shop at the garage.
  6. Use an alarm that draws attention to would-be thieves and deters them.
  7. Use locking wheel nuts to deter wheel theft.
  8. Don't leave credit or bank cards visibly lying in the car. Jackets are also targeted since they may contain wallets.
  9. Hide your spare car keys away at your home so that thieves do not have easy access to them.
  10. Etch the car registration into glass, such as on the headlights, to aid vehicle recovery.
Over and above this, layered security is the answer to securing your vehicle. Most security devices alone do not prevent theft, merely but deter thieves, and the more deterrent you have the better. Essentially you want the thief to move to the next vehicle in the queue because it is easier to break into and steal.

Gearlocks, steering wheel locks of the kind that wrap around the wheel and not the single arms, door locks, immobilisers, alarms, and vehicle tracking services can all be layered to prevent theft by making thieves move on to tackle another, less secure vehicle.

Leaving the car in a paid-for lot only adds another layer to the security, but so-called car guards are very often nothing more than parking attendants. If they are not associated with the Security Industry Regulatory Authority (SIRA), which regulates armed reaction units and access control guards, then they are not qualified security officers.

Guards aside, vigilance and following these simple tips above will ensure that your car is passed over by the thieves this holiday season.


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