Any working car serves as so much more than a driving utensil. Not only does it get you from Point A to Point B, but it is also a place where you socialise with other passengers, an item that shows off your personality and wealth, and a second home on the road where you get your comforts when traveling.
Given that we spend so much time in our cars, their personal value is sometimes even more important than their monetary value, though they are a major financial asset, to be sure. In any case, owning a car requires more than maintenance and care – it requires vigilance. After all, even though auto thefts have been slowly decreasing over the past few years, they still happen. To keep your vehicle safe, be sure to follow the guidelines we offer.
Guidelines to keep your vehicle safe
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Locks
The greatest attraction to a thief or vandal is an easy target. Thus, making your car a stronghold of safety and security should be a top priority. Locks play an important part in this, and we are talking about more than placing your car in park and setting the default alarm mode. When you place locks on the wheels, steering wheel, and other parts, you are making it much harder for criminals to get access to your vehicle and take it to another location. So, you should really look into these types of car security solutions and add additional layers of security to a prized possession.
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Neighborhood vigilance
Driving your car through safe areas may seem like common sense to drivers, but the desire to save time in favor of a shortcut or a convenient parking spot can override common sense. Unfortunately, it often happens that drivers look for an easy solution by leaving their car in a shadier part of town with more parking spaces, or simply escaping traffic through a route that bypasses the main roads and highways. Oftentimes, the driver is unaware that they are in a dangerous location rife with crime, and they pay the price for it. Rather than risking it, it is much safer to stick to main roads and leaving your car in visible and known locations.
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Keeping windows down
Windows are the first point of contact between the driver and the outside world. Naturally, you have the metal car frame that can take a great amount of damage without even affecting the interior, while the same cannot be said for windows. Glass windows break easily, whether it is an unlucky rock projected into the windshield, or a projectile specifically targeted to shatter your window. When you have any doubts about the weather on the road or an unsafe area you are driving through, you will be much safer keeping the windows down. This barrier will block so much more than just heat, cold, and noise.
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Difficult parking
Everyone hates parallel parking, as well as parking in tight and inconvenient spaces, but these techniques can serve as a major boost when you want to keep your car safe. If you consider the mindset of a potential thief or carjacker, they just want to take what is yours and get away with minimal effort and visibility. Hence, when you are about to leave your car, you may deter wrongdoing just by leaving your car in a place that cannot be left easily or quickly.
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Lighting counts
Continuing our thoughts about criminals’ mentality, we should also consider that one of their biggest fears is being seen. They are wary of cameras, busy neighborhoods, and lighting in particular. When you leave your car in a spot with good lighting, this makes any activity that goes on around your car much more visible, and much more likely to attract the attention of passers-by and witnesses. Carjackers prefer to steal from areas with poor lighting and low probability of lighting, so you can install an additional layer of protection just by keeping your car in the light.
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Removing valuables
Of course, we are talking about the car owner removing valuables from the inside of their car. There is nothing that a car thief wants more than to find a few thousand dollars’ worth of items in the car they stole, and you can spare them this luxury. In the event that your car does get stolen, you can disappoint them by taking any electronics, cash, documents, and other valuable items when you leave the vehicle. Getting your car stolen is hardly pleasant, but you can spare yourself additional grief by taking your most valuable belongings with you when you leave the car.
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Don’t forget about the extensions
No matter how safely you secure items to the roof of your car or to a trailer attached to the back of the car, it is a sad truth that these things make a much easier target than the car itself. Thus, you should take all possible precautions to secure and fasten such items (like kayaks, trailers, snowboards, etc.) or even better, take them indoors when leaving your car.
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Install an anti-theft system
As technology and gadgets advance in their complexity and usefulness, consumers can get more and more benefits by staying in touch with the times. Your basic car alarm is good, but you will have a much easier time deterring thieves and criminals by installing high-tech anti-theft systems. Even in the event that your vehicle is stolen, such tools make it easy to locate them quickly and alert the authorities about the crimes and wrongdoing.
Even if you are not willing to dish out big costs and monthly payments for additional security features, following most of these simple guidelines will not cost you extra, and instead, save you from a world of worry and headache. Keeping your vehicle safe is not just a one-time errand, but rather a mindfulness that you can adhere to throughout your traveling life. While you may not be able to prepare for any dangerous situation, you can certainly bring the risk of unfortunate theft, damage, and danger down significantly by staying ahead of the curve.
