Interesting article on vehicle theft

[86Scotty]

I thought this might be interesting to older van owners and especially West coasters.

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2...et-for-stolen-

[Lunatickn]

I didn't read the article for detail but did some quick "find on page" for some keywords. The article focuses mostly on the technical countermeasures to prevent auto theft and doesn't address at all the root cause: the rulers -- and that's how they see themselves -- of that dump of a metro area do absolutely nothing to prosecute crime that impacts average people. So criminals are emboldened to steal cars, as this one was, just for joy riding let alone for chopping.



It's not uncommon to hear folks talk about their cars being stolen multiple times and abandoned just as this one was. I personally know 2 people who had Accords stolen 3 times in a single week. Every time dumped in down the peninsula on some side street. As a motorcyclist who lived in that area for 15 years, the way to recover a stolen bike was to check the online system for parking tickets for the bikes plate as the ticket would include an address where it had been dumped. The rulers there do no allocate resources to preventing thefts like this but they sure do allocate resources for writing parking tickets. I know of several instances of folks having to steal their own bikes back after alerting the police to its exact location. I've also heard rumors that approx 10 years ago a --- very famous... I'll leave it at that --- motorcycle club took matters into their own hands and burned down a moto chop shop in the City which was found to be lined with metal plating as a form of faraday cage to prevent trackers from working. I personally came out to my locked garage 3(!) times with someone inside trying to steal tools and bikes.


"Stop being political." No, its time for accountability for this kind of crap.


I have to wonder why NY doesn't have the same problems as the Bay Area? Perhaps it just appears as though they don't per capita because per capita the auto ownership rate is much lower?

[86Scotty]

Well, unfortunately I can't delete my post or I would, including your response.

First, try reading the article before you comment on it.

Second, stop being political. There are plenty of places online for that. Many more than needed. Please go there.

[Lunatickn]

lol...



Post something like that but definitely nobody is allowed to call out the people responsible for the situation. Demonstrably.



Weak.



It'll come to TN too, brother. Don't saw you weren't warned.

[Twoxentrix]

Yep, interesting article, but nothing surprising revealed.
I was raised in a nice town in the East Bay which rarely had 'issues'... hardly ever locked any of the vehicles I owned.
When I got to UC Berkeley my 'security system' consisted of two 3" nails propped under the front and rear tires which were closest to the curb.
It's unfortunate how social media platforms (in this case Tik-Tok) can influence undesirable trends, back in the day it took a while longer for 'stuff' to get around - but then there was no such thing as 24/7 with the pony express!

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by Lunatickn

lol...



Post something like that but definitely nobody is allowed to call out the people responsible for the situation. Demonstrably.



Weak.



It'll come to TN too, brother. Don't saw you weren't warned.

I should first say that I agree with you, but that's not the spirit of the article nor what the reason I shared it. There's plenty of politics and blaming in every part of life these days, this forum is usually pretty free of it and we like to keep it that way. By the way, you can call out who you want, where you want, it ain't my forum, but I was trying to nip the inevitable creep towards the usual us vs. them from this post.

Had you read the article, which you in your first sentence said you didn't (weak, btw), you might see that it is more about the history of car manufacturers and car theft, and insurers and the government's (every government, not just ours) efforts to curtail it. Car theft has been around as long as cars and will always be with us. The history is interesting.

Also, I mostly shared this because a huge majority of late model Ford vans (very, very similar to the Ford trucks which are number 2 on the list). Most SMBs stolen are stolen from Seattle, Portland, Bay area, LA, San Diego and Denver. This, of course, is where most SMB's are nationwide.

You, and everyone for that matter, should try reading the article objectively without jumping to conclusions about who's fault it is.

And also, we do have real life in Tennessee. Drugs, guns, crime.....all of it, but thanks for the warning.

[daveb]

Sorry folks