Two seventeen year old boys are dead and another is in hospital after a car crash in Sydney over the weekend. They were the occupants of a late model Holden Commodore which crashed into a pole and in this instance the police were not involved.
The youths were driving a stolen car, but someone connected with the owner saw it driving away and gave chase. The thieves lacked high speed driving experience and ended their lives wrapped around a telegraph pole, and their pursuer was arrested by police and will face court for his actions.
What is surprising is that late model cars still lack theft protection to prevent juveniles with basic hand tools from breaking in and driving off in a matter of seconds, and that seems to be common despite the range of models and prices on showroom floors.
There have been many security promises over the years. Many will remember the steering wheel lock which required the wheels to face the kerb when parking, and later we were urged to have an " immobilizer" fitted, but the thefts continued unabated.
It is technically possible to install adequate theft protection, but this is not high on the buyer's list of priorities. It is all about " driver convenience " and we still have many people who refuse to buckle their seat belt when they drive a car. Not having the seat belt buckled by the driver or passengers brings demerit points and a big fine, but it is still prevalent.
It is obvious that if car theft is not high on the owners priorities, it will continue to be ignored by the car companies. Safely unlocking anti theft devices is an irritant car owners dislike and you notice that car advertising makes no mention of such a feature.
As a result, a man who made the unwise decision to give chase now finds himself facing serious charges which may result in a prison term. The police do not appreciate civilians intruding on their turf.
What is even more amazing is that over a year after air bags were found to be defective in a wide range of cars, we still have ninety thousand such unfixed vehicles on our roads with their drivers playing " Russian Roulette " with their lives.
A fault means that if the air bag is activated it may shower metal parts into the drivers face because of an increase in the gas propellant. That is like driving around with a loaded shotgun pointed at your head. These faulty units will be replaced at the car manufacturers expense and efforts have been made to track down owners and get the cars in for service, but despite wide publicity this safety concern is ignored by many people.
In desperation, the government is now relying on the annual safety check which is known as the " pink slip " which every car must undergo each year for registration renewal. Part of that protocol will be to check that the air bag has been replaced or registration will be refused.
Given the safety empathy that is so under valued it is unlikely that car theft will figure highly in car design for the future !
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