It is an all too familiar news item heading the news reports. A stolen car being driven at more than three times the posted speed limit and totally ignoring red lights crashes headlong into another innocent motorist. The other driver - often a woman accompanied by a child - is killed or seriously injured. The errant driver - usually a young male - sustains some injuries but jumps from the wreck and makes his escape.
The vast majority of these criminals eventually end up in police custody. Either their injuries force them to seek treatment or they leave finger prints and DNA in the wreck. Sometimes they even abandon injured companions. We often see supporting family demonstrating outside courts when they face charges and money is forthcoming for the best lawyers. Alcohol or drugs are usually blamed for their actions.
What is astonishing in this electronic age is that the average car is still capable of being stolen by those with average intelligence and little better equipment than a coat hangar and a screw driver. Not just cars at the bottom end of the price range, but cars right across the price spectrum. In an age when we have visited the moon and put Rovers on Mars we are yet incapable of securing a common means of transport from thieves.
There have been many failures. Remember when steering locks became mandatory ? When the key was removed from the ignition and the steering wheel was rotated kerbside locking pins slid into place and immobilised steering. This innovation was overcome in days and no attempt was made to strengthen the assembly to make it a viable option. The inference was that the car industry was ambivalent about car theft. After all, a stolen car simply presented an opportunity for a new car sale as a replacement.
More recently we had the age of the " immobilizer ". In Australia this form of protection became mandatory and it was claimed that it made simple crossing a few wires to get an electrical contact impossible. For more than a decade all new cars sold in Australia have this device factory fitted - and theft figures speak for themselves.
It is probably impossible to design a modern car that can not be entered by a committed criminal. There are just too many points of entry and as a last resort smashing a window will avoid all other forms of protection. The ultimate form of protection is creating a barrier between starting the engine other than at the instigation of the owner - and that is sadly missing.
The car industry spends trillions of dollars in research and development and every new model is a repository of whiz bang electronics. Fuel economics constantly improve and all sorts of safety devices become standard. The modern car is a marvel of safety to its occupants by way of air bags and crumple zones - but it is little better protected from theft than the cars of the 1950's.
The motoring public deserve better. Stolen cars are over represented in fatal crashes and even with insurance the loss of a cherished family car to theft usually means a heavy financial loss. Perhaps it is time to lean on the car industry and force them to improve car theft safety or suffer a price penalty in the market place.
Right now we test all cars for a crash safety rating, with five stars being the optimum. It is hard to sell a model with less than five stars and should new cars be subjected to a similar theft rating with a financial impost graded to the stars awarded this would certainly get the manufacturers attention.
The car industry will not take theft seriously until it has a financial reason to undertake the R and D that will make car security a reality. That will never happen - until it becomes required by legislation!
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