With winter on the way and the nights getting shorter, Global Telemetrics have produced some tips in order to keep your vehicle safe this winter.
As a famous Jon once said ‘Winter is Coming’. With winter on the way and the nights getting shorter, inevitably Global Telemetrics will see an increase in vehicle theft as the opportunities arise. With this in mind, Global Telemetrics have produced some tips in order to keep your vehicle safe this winter.
The first point of call for any form of protection of your vehicle is you. Each year hundreds of cars are stolen due to small lapses in basic security. Things such as: Leaving cars unlocked (always check your wing mirrors have folded in if you have this feature), leaving car windows ajar or open, leaving things on show in your vehicle and keeping valuables in your car.
A Thatcham-approved tracking device can alert you to potential vehicle tampering almost immediately. All Global Telemetrics tracking devices will alert the driver of battery disconnection and vehicle towing, and some higher level devices also include alerts should the vehicle be driven by an unauthorised driver. With the addition of geofence security, a tracking device can provide notification of a theft and our Repatriation Team can be mobilised within minutes to hopefully recover the stolen vehicle.
For further information regarding SmarTrack Tracking Systems click here.
Immobilisation devices prevent your vehicle from starting unless a detection method such as our driver detection cards are present. This means that even if keys are stolen or cloned the vehicle will still not start unless those detection methods are present.
Global Telemetrics offer immobilisation with their S5+ iMob device. This is a tracking device with immobilisation combining the two. With this device you get all the features included in the top of the range tracking device plus immobilisation, controlled by Bluetooth Driver Detection Card.
More information about this device can be found here.
Deserving of its own point rather than being in the ‘Back to basics’ section due to the upcoming winter. Each year, Global Telemetrics as a business recover vehicles that have been left to defrost, with the engine running, whilst the customer is inside the house or absent from the vehicle. Providing opportunistic thieves with an open door to an easy theft.
Global Telemetrics highlighted this problem in a YouTube campaign last year which can be seen here:
Keyless theft is a major cause of vehicles being stolen across the world, thieves are able to use a relay device outside a victims house and pick up the signal from car keys inside the property, using a small device that then connects to a device next to the vehicle, the car is tricked into thinking the key is present, opening and starting the vehicle. To combat this, faraday bags or boxes block any signal transmission from the keys to the device preventing the car from being stolen. Global Telemetrics recommends always placing keys within a Faraday bag or box when the vehicle is not in use.
A tried and tested method to prevent vehicle theft. Whilst there are instances of vehicles still being stolen with a steering lock in place, it is highly likely that a thief will walk on by to another target if they spot a steering lock.
Even if you are careful with your privacy settings, there is still a good chance that someone undesirable may see your vehicle. We all love the likes and shares but remember you are advertising there’s a nice new shiny car at your location, which could be worked out by previous posts. An innocent post a few months after posting about your new car about you being on holiday could be the information a thief needs to pay your car a visit!
Darkness is a friend to a thief, the less they can be seen the better. If you can, park in a well-lit area so that they think twice before they choose your vehicle. That thief may just think twice if they are easily visible.
If you are selling your car, always be careful what information you reveal and what you do with the keys. We recommend conducting any viewings in the presence of another person, and never letting a prospective buyer test drive the vehicle alone. Global Telemetrics have seen many cases where owners have had their keys and subsequently their vehicle stolen by an individual who initially enquired about purchasing the vehicle. In a few of these, people have also told their prospective buyers that the car had a tracker in it too. Leading to the thieves having a head start on knowing there is a tracker to remove!
Find out about all the products from SmarTrack online at smartrack.uk.net
