Not locking your car door? You'll be fined.

[Jesda]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/14/vide ... ock-their/

Bad news for folks in suburban Philly with convertibles. I'd rather have my iPod stolen than my top slashed.

[nissangirl74]

Remind me the next time I'm in Philly to run a hot wire from the battery to the door handle. That'll teach them nosy f***.

[Black on Gold]

What a great idea

[sldewyz]

so they base their idea on saving paperwork by issuing more citations for cars that arent even garunteed to get broken into? that makes total sense. yea sure 75 percent of cars that got broken into were unlocked but again out of all the cars that were on the road, how many unlocked cars werent broken into. that would probably be a huge number of citations theyd have to file away. whats next? fines for leaving your radio faceplate on while out of your vehicle?

[Solar_Runner]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/14/vide ... ock-their/

Bad news for folks in suburban Philly with convertibles. I'd rather have my iPod stolen than my top slashed.

QFT, Jesda. I had some knuckleheads try to break into my convertible. They used crowbars to try to pry my doors open - on both sides! I got some nice marks/dents on my car from that. It happened at my daughter's high school. She was pretty upset, but I told her that at least they were stupid enough NOT to slash the top.... BTW. there was nothing of any real value in the car.

Big, intrusive government/greedy police departments stay out of my life!

[Mr1der]

this is like Davidson county passing a bill that makes it illegal to idle a car outside in the winter....stupid.

f*** insurance companies and f*** the government for taking the easy way out and coddling meth heads and other unsavory characters.

I wonder if states with the castle doctrine have stupid laws like this...

[GrilledCheese33]

That is funny, I was actually pumping the gas the other night and there was a sticker on the pump that says a Florida statute prohibits motorists from leaving keys in a car while unattended. Let us do our own thing, dammit.

[C-Kwik]

I would be more concerned about people leaving keys in the car (including keeping their car running) than door locks. A lot of cars get stolen, because the primary line of theft prevention (your keys) were not secured properly. And that is most significant because its one of the most preventable types of car thefts. I do think creating laws against any of this is a bit extreme, but I understand the basis for the argument. Better driver education about this kind of thing would be more reasonable.

[Alfador]

Leaving a car running is a serious problem (excluding of course, keyless remote starters that don't allow the car to be driven). It's a very tempting target for someone and could especially lead to a hurried attempt to drive of with said car causing property or personal injury.

Just leaving unlocked... Well, in America, ANYWHERE in America, regardless of how quaint your little town seems, I will call you names and laugh at you if you get robbed because your car is unlocked. However, I see no need to force people to lock their cars. If they don't want to lock them, fine, but the police shouldn't have to respond or even take a report when you get robbed.

If only the police could operate that way.

"Hi, my car was cleaned out. They got my CDs, my GPS, my cell phone, and some cash I keep in the glove box."
"Are there any signs of forced entry."
"my car wasn't locked."
"Have a nice day."

[Jesda]

I never lock a damn thing. The Saab is parked with the top open. My apartment door is only locked if I leave town.

I always parked the BMW with the top down and my iPod resting in the center console. No one touched anything. Why? Because everyone else around here has nicer things than I do, and this metro area is self-segregating -- I don't mean racially, I mean economically. The difference when you go from the bad part of town to the good part is pretty extreme, and people tend to know where they ought to be.

Now, if I lived somewhere that had more intermingling among different types of people (again, I'm not referring to race), I'd be more concerned. Spokane was like that. When I lived there, it was 95% white. The overall crime level there is lower than STL, but there wasn't a part of town where you were "away" from all the "ick." As a result, vandalism and theft problems spread themselves equally throughout the region.

I'm actually thankful for the soul-crushing blandness of my neighborhood.

[dusred]

I never lock a damn thing. The Saab is parked with the top open. My apartment door is only locked if I leave town.

That just sparked a memory.

One time at about 8 PM I drove up to my house in my truck. It was damn cold outside so I left it running. I got in there and the fam was having dinner so I sat down and ate with them. I got done and got deep into a conversation with my brother. Finally it got to be about midnight I headed to bed. I got up the next morning and could hear my truck outside idling. F***! I was going to buy a bunch of stuff for the company and had 2 grand cash sitting in plain site on the console not to mention my laptop, ipod, GPS unit, radar detector (damn thing cost me $400) and a toolbox full of expensive water treatment test equipment. I had around 10 grand sitting in my truck and it was sitting there idling all night.

[wingFeather]

What backwards thinking! Punish criminals, not lawful citizens.

I happen to live in an area where many people leave everything unlocked. They even leave cars running while going into stores. They are not the criminals - the thieves are! Get it right, government!

[PoorManQ45]

this is like Davidson county passing a bill that makes it illegal to idle a car outside in the winter....stupid.

Leaving a vehicle running and unattended is a crime in most states/counties.

Also, this sounds like an insurance company concoction. They don't want to pay claims...

[MinisterofDOOM]

I never lock a damn thing. The Saab is parked with the top open. My apartment door is only locked if I leave town.

I lock everything. Twice. If I'm not sure whether I locked my car or apartment door, I can't get to sleep. Sometimes I'll check either (or both) 2 or 3 times to be sure.

I've actually had friends of my neighbors try to blunder into my apartment while not paying attention to which floor they're on before. Locked door simplifies that. I don't want random dipshits walking in because they lack the brainpower to read a letter on a door at 3am. I've also seen plenty of morons at supermarkets try to get in the wrong car because they're too stupid to know one silver Accord from another. Granted, I've only ever seen a couple other pearl white late-model LSs in the state...but knowing my luck some idiot looking for his Galant will smear his muddy feet all over my upholstery before realizing he's in the wrong car.

All that aside, fining people for not locking their cars is asinine. What if the locks are broken? What if they left something in there for a friend to retrieve? What if they have a broken window (mechanism or glass)? There are WAY too many legitimate reasons someone could NEED to leave their car unlocked for any law against it to be justifiable.

And, as Jesda points out, leaving a car unlocked can minimize the damage of a break-in. I'd rather find my sunglasses missing than a window broken.

I think if I lived in that city, I'd buy an old accord and tear out all the lock tumblers. Then I'd part it at random spots in the city with a handful of iPods on the passenger seat.

Better driver education about this kind of thing would be more reasonable.

9.9 times out of 10, this is the answer.

[IBCoupe]

You know, I get the reasoning. But I don't know that it'll work, because I don't think it accurately addresses the problem. Yes, okay, so 75% of thefts from cars involve a car that was already unlocked, but I don't know that people walk away from their cars asking, "Did I lock my doors? No, I didn't, dammit! And I'm not gonna go do it! Screw me!"

Well, from Jesda's comment, I suppose there's a portion of the population that does say that, but whatever. I don't know that this is going to stand out in the minds of people enough to actually get them to change their behavior.

Though, you know, having cops patrol parking lots looking for unlocked doors might just prevent break-ins. Either way, I hope they stop "pondering" this and start getting back to more important matters.

[hannibal]

Though, you know, having cops patrol parking lots looking for unlocked doors might just prevent break-ins. Either way, I hope they stop "pondering" this and start getting back to more important matters.

True but shouldnt the cops be patroling and looking out for people committing real crimes, like breaking into vehicles?

Years ago, someone broke into my car by breaking the small fixed triangle window on my back door. He stole a pair of gloves and some change and left his old torn up glove on the seat. Wish I would have just left the door unlocked. At least he broke the smallest cheapest window to get in.

A friend lives outside DC in a decent area. She never locks her car in her driveway and its never been touched. Guess all the crooks go to the nicer neighborhoods to steal stuff.

[Jesda]

Strangely, a friend of mine living in Annapolis had his rear glass smashed on his Mercedes. The thieves took his books, which was rather unusual.

For a thief to get out to where I live, its somewhat inconvenient. You have to spend a lot on gas.

[idahotuner]

Spokane was like that. When I lived there,

when did you live in spokane?

when ever i go to spokane i make sure stuff is lock. specially on north division not to be racial, but spokane has 50,000 russians, with gangs and mobs. the kids will even follow you from meets to see where your going with your car if they see something they like in it. thankfully i live an hour away. and when they ask, i just say i am from out of town.

always park where i can see the car, or where there is no way for it to be accessed sneakily. now my truck on the other hand never really get locked. but it does tend to lock its self on accident. damn chevy doors

[MinisterofDOOM]

A friend of mine had a window on his Metro smashed while it was parked at work. They took the (OEM) stereo. What they were looking for in a Metro that might be worth taking is beyond me. Now the guy's out a window and a radio and the thieves probably lost $5 buying the gas to drive away. Everyone lost.

[PoorManQ45]

Locking a door only keeps honest people out!

[MinisterofDOOM]

Locking a door only keeps honest people out!

It also gives me warning when the dishonest ones come in, so I can grab the nearest heavy object and aim it at their head.

[PoorManQ45]

Locking a door only keeps honest people out!

It also gives me warning when the dishonest ones come in, so I can grab the nearest heavy object and aim it at their head.

That's true, and criminals aren't usually smart enough to pay attention to when you're home...

[Razi]

Locking a door only keeps honest people out!

It also gives me warning when the dishonest ones come in, so I can grab the nearest heavy object and aim it at their head.

[Jesda]

Spokane was like that. When I lived there,

when did you live in spokane?

when ever i go to spokane i make sure stuff is lock. specially on north division not to be racial, but spokane has 50,000 russians, with gangs and mobs. the kids will even follow you from meets to see where your going with your car if they see something they like in it. thankfully i live an hour away. and when they ask, i just say i am from out of town.

always park where i can see the car, or where there is no way for it to be accessed sneakily. now my truck on the other hand never really get locked. but it does tend to lock its self on accident. damn chevy doors

I lived there from 96-03. Such a pretty town, full of washed up losers on meth. I do have some friends and family there though and hate that they're so far away. My dad has an old Toyota pickup that I was driving around. He lives on the south hill and has a house with a long driveway. He asked me to park it near the front of his property.

I had a boombox in there under a towel with some burned CDs. Amusingly, the thieves smashed the rear glass, took the Sony CD player worth $50, rifled through the CDs, and took only the ones labeled with artists they liked. So, they felt ballsy enough to take their time.

I LOL'd but Dad wasn't happy. While all of this was happening (it was noon) I was swimming in his pool oblivious to what was going on in the front yard.

I should probably not have locked the truck. Rear glass costs more than a battery-powered CD boombox. Last I heard, he never replaced the rear window and just uses the truck to haul yard waste to the dump.