It's only a lump of metal!

[Doug-SRidirect]

Some months ago, my brother (in south Manchester) had his front door broken down by three thugs at one in the morning. They ran upstairs, by which time my brother confronted them on the landing. They demanded “Where’s your f***in’ car keys”. His son came “all brave” out of his bedroom door, and my brother, very sensibly, pushed him back in and wouldn’t let him and at the same time his missus found the keys (kept in the bedroom for security?) and threw them at these three who immediately (thank God) turned around and left - in his nearly new Audi A4 Quattro.

Police later said this was the third such crime that very night, and that you should never park a high performance car on your driveway at night.

It seems the insurance companies and car manufacturers have done us no favours by making cars virtually unstealable without the keys. These scum, who used to break a lock and ‘hot-wire’ (whatever that is?) it will nowadays mug you or break in to your house and, one way or another, take your keys from you.
Consequentially, we are all in much greater physical danger of having a “one to one” with a thug nowadays, than in the past.
I think that only a fool would resist – after all it’s only a lump of metal.
In my brother’s case, although he was a ‘brawler’ in his youth and well able to look after himself, he had the good sense just hand over the keys.
I can’t think of anything more terrifying than being awoken by hyped-up (drugged-up?) thugs on your landing (you half asleep in your pyjamas, with wife there and the children in the other bedrooms).
It could soon be the same with credit cards, as the finance companies make it more difficult to clone cards or to use stolen ones. Thieves are going to get their ‘drug money’ one way or another, and if the card’s no use without its owner, then they’ll take the owner!!! – and probably start abducting people and marching them to the cash point.

So that’s my point…. The sad irony that the more secure they make our cars, cards and homes, the more physically at risk we all are.
Discuss…….(and take care!)
Doug

[Andy]

i dont think its a case of cars being less stealable without keys. I think its a case of crims getting braver and braver and now thinking 'why creep around trying not to make any noise when we can just barge in, demand keys and know they can be be off in half the time with a car as 'fit' as the owner enjoys it.

A while ago i was thinking about an Evo 8 but MLC put me off by telling about the same sort of thing as your brother. When i checked the car write ups, the security on the EVo's is shockingly low and they dont even come with a factory alarm, so why break into the house?

I think the only way to stop this kind of thing is fit a Tracker system etc. Let them take your car, ring Tracker and have them imboloise it 10 mins later and go pick it up.

[bobbyboy]

my neighbour had his car stolen last week..a 53 focus lx diesel (nowt flash), apparently the thieves entered his house and took the keys from the hallway. he was upstairs listening to music, and his mam was in the living room watching tv. The odd thing is that his car was parked outside my house..so how did the thieves know where the keys were ??? . We are now locking the door when in, and where I used to leave my car open when on the drive its now locked. Our street is nice and quiet (except for us !!!), but this makes you think...

P.S. The missis has told me that a house up the street was raided by the police last night....apparently he was growing some strange plants !!!!!

[AJA]

My suggestion is make the car as hard to steal as possible by installing visible means of deterant. i.e. Steering Wheel Locks, Wheel Clamp and Driveway Security Poles.

OK, they break in and force you to hand over your keys - they've then got to remove all these devices before they can physically drive the thing away.

[Brocks]

Some friends of ours had their car nicked like this:

She was at home on her own sunbathing in the back garden during the summer.

Door bell goes so she goes to answer the door. A bloke is stood there with a cut hand spewing blood and asks for a plaster. She says “OK wait there” and closes the front door feeling a little wary. She gets a plaster, goes back to the front door and gives the plaster to the bloke who says TA and leaves.

Half an hour later she feels some thing isn’t right and checks the house….No car keys and hence no car. The scam was this:

While she goes to answer the door a second scumbag goes round the back and creeps into the house and hides while she gets the plaster. Then when she returns to the front door, second scumbag raids the car keys and darts out the back. Once the owner has gone back into the house the two people of questionable parentage simply drive the car off. They’ve got the keys to the car and the house….

Personally I think the law is soft on Crims. Anyone entering your house should forfeit their rights….An mans home is his castle etc. I know there are arguments left right and centre but when will we stop feeling sorry for crims and give’m what the deserve. Bring back National service, and the hard jail time of years gone by.

The lump of metal is not the important thing it's the effect on the victem!

[AJA]

Agreed, the law needs changing. You should be allowed to defend what's yours. The 'scumbags' are more protected than we are.

[Ian]

quite agree - one thing thats really gets my goat is folk stealing other folks stuff!!

its not yours so why take it??

I was talking to an aquaintence of a friend in the pub once and he was bragging that he had stolen a fireblade out a garge. it wne tmuch like:-

me "why"
scum "cos is was there and the stupid D8ck left the keys in it and the garage door open"
me "but it wasnt yours"
scum "so?"
me "thats cost him a fortune and youve just taken it"
scum "it insured"
me "what about his excess and now lack of no claims?"
scum "eh?"
me "that bike probably cost him all his spare cash and now he will never get insured again and will lose upto £500 excess - just cos you saw it"
scum "oh"

he was a complete tool with a total misconception that it wouldn't cost anybody anything anyway - no idea that excess and no claims aside, insurance companies will make us pay for it the end!!

they have no idea what it is to work for something and earn it!! they just think everybody else is lucky and why should they miss out??!

[Duncan]

I was talking to an aquaintence of a friend in the pub once and he was bragging that he had stolen a fireblade out a garge. it wne tmuch like:-

and I take it you paid a visit to the local police station on the way home?

D

[Doug-SRidirect]

We've got to change this attitude of "it's a Victimless Crime", if they think the insurance companies / banks / or whatever will pay out.
Notwithstanding all the grief and worry, we're all paying extra on our premiums, bank charges and the cost of practically everything we buy is higher to cover theft (they call it "wastage" where my missus works).
Doug

[SCOTTEX]

Society, the law and magistrates are too soft and getting worse.
Personally I don't agree with simply handing your car keys over to scum. As more people do it the easier it for them to do it. The scum should know that there is a good chance they are going to hurt, arrested and sent down for a long time, at the moment there is little deterent. People cave in to them and the easier it is.

Any scum tries this at my house, has a fight on his hands, they need weapons to frighten people, so we frighten them back.

Its not about the car, its about whats right and wrong. We work hard to earn money to pay for things. We pay a lot of taxes, we send our kids to school and we live within the law. The law is there to protect people like us. Why the hell should we let some scumbag steal, cause damage, threaten with illegal weapons, all for drug money.
Its too easy to lay down and roll over. We ( the people) should stand-up and say We are not going to put up with this. We vote MPs in to do our bidding, make them do what we want. Magistrates are a waste of time, the Police do there job and bring them in front of magistrates (they are never victims of crime, are they) and get let off, 12 weeks prison for knocking over and killing a child in Blackburn, no tax/insurance/licence/nothing, absolute joke.

Churchill didn't do it and neither will I.