Lock your car...or pay a fine

[SoCalDem]

So...cops will be wandering thru neighborhoods checking cars? Or will they take the word of a caught car thief (that it was unlocked)..or will they "deputize" neighbors to check cars for them...for a bounty?


http://www.wfmz.com/bucksnews/25369241/detail.html

Police Consider Fines For Unlocked Cars
Jaccii Farris | Reporter


October 12, 2010

UPPER MORELAND TWP., Pa. -- Imagine this: thieves break into your car, but you're the one who gets the ticket.

It may soon become reality in one Montgomery County community.

Police in Upper Moreland Township said 75 percent of their auto burglaries since 2008 happened in unlocked cars. Township officials are now considering fining people who leave their cars unlocked in public areas."Theft from motor vehicles, theft from cars, is a universal problem," said Chief Theodore Kohuth of the Whitehall Township Police Department in Lehigh County. "Every community is experiencing that. Quite frankly, many of these victims have asked for the problem by failing to lock their car."

Kohuth said there have been 220 thefts from vehicles in Whitehall Township this year, some due to unlocked vehicles. In many cases, items like Ipods, stereo face plates, and GPS systems have caught the eye of thieves. Kohuth said he doesn't think it's the responsibility of police to make sure private citizens lock their cars. But officials in Moreland Township said handing out fines could cut the theft rate.

snip

We wanted to do a little experiment to see how many unlocked cars we could find.

We checked 10 cars. Five in a strip mall parking lot were locked. Of two vehicles parked on a residential street, one had its windows down and a truck was unlocked. The owner said he doesn't have a key and isn't worried because what he does have is a very large dog. Of three cars parked on a business lot, two were locked and the third was unlocked. The owner said he forgot to lock it.

snip

If it passes, police will issue warnings first and a $25 citation for the second offense.
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[Speck Tater]

1. The locks on my car doors haven't worked since I bought my car for $100 cash 15 years ago.

Guess I better steer clear of that county.

[gateley]

2. I've always left my doors unlocked and nothing important inside .Once at

an apartment complex all the cars were broken into -- windows smashed. My unlocked car was rifled through, but no broken windows.

I've done this ever since a friend of mine who had a VW convertible said she did it because she didn't have the money to repair a slashed convertible top, so let them in, nothing to get anyway.

[SoCalDem]

3. Someone tried to break into our Honda..jimmied the lock

It cost us $545.00 to repair the damage to the lock..deductible? $500..so we paid the entire thing (no need to give the insurance company a reason to raise our rates, for $45.00)

[ejpoeta]

30. that's just sick. i think there is something to be said for just not leaving

things in your car worth taking. when i had my old ford explorer with the rusty rocker panels and the rear driver side door that didn't open i sure didn't worry about someone breaking in. there was nothing worth taking. i do worry a bit more with our minivan. but i don't worry too much about anything happening to it in our yard.

[SoCalDem]

34. They wanted the whole car.. I think the neighbor's dog may have scared them

and we have motion lights in the driveway.. We never leave anything inside the car...we don't even own a CD, so nothing visible they could want, unless the wanted the bath towel that covers the back package shelf:)

Honda Accords were the #1 car stolen at that time, so I think they really wanted that car.. I'm glad they did not get it,... we still have that car even though it;s approaching 300K miles now and it not very pretty now:)

[pipi_k]

6. Well if you have nothing to steal, and you're not...

going to call the police, then that's a different story, so ignore what I said below about stupid people who don't lock their cars...


;)

[pipi_k]

4. I live about 1 1/2 miles off a main (rural) road, down a steep dirt road...

in the middle of the woods.

The house is surrounded by motion-activated lights and alarms and a security camera system.

We have two large dogs.


We always lock our vehicles when they're in the yard...not to mention when we're out in "civilization".


So I say good. I hope people get fined for not locking their vehicles. And not just because I lock mine... more because stupid people who don't lock their vehicles...or, worse...leave them RUNNING with the keys in them while they run into the store for "just a minute"... waste the time and resources of the police who might otherwise have been responding to a call where someone didn't have anything to do with his or her misfortune.

[hedgehog]

7. I don't worry enough about break-ins. Upon leaving for a recent trip,

I had to lock the garage and the porch door. I ended up having to get out some tools and making minor renovations in order to get the doors to close properly so I could turn the locks. Then I came home and discovered that right next to the locked door was the window I'd left open for the convenience of the cats!

[pipi_k]

14. Hah...that reminds me of when I was a kid...

We would leave the house...doors all locked and everything.

Except the kitchen window...above the cellar hatchway...was open for the cat to go in and out.


:7

[Altoid_Cyclist]

25. I tried to teach one of our local officers a lesson one night.

They had been complaining about people running into stores and leaving the engine running only to come back to a missing car.

One night after a little too much to drink, I stopped at a convenience store to grab a snack. Lo and behold, there was a police car sitting in the parking lot with the engine running and no LEO in sight. I said to myself, this will be pretty funny when I walk in and hand him his keys.

Uh yeah.... in my slightly inebriated state, I didn't notice the K-9 sticker on the car. I reached into the car and came face to face with a very protective police dog. I decided that it was in my best interest to forget about teaching anyone a lesson other than learning never to reach into a police car.

[hedgehog]

5. I never lock my car, even when I visit the big city (Syracuse)

My husband locks the cars whenever we are out, which is a real pain in the butt waiting for the doors to be unlocked so I can get in out of the cold.

Around here, a lot of people drive winter rats with old batteries during the cold weather. On really cold days, it's very common to see these cars left running while someone pops into the store to pick up milk and bread. The odds of getting the car to start are low, and so are the odds of theft!

[ejpoeta]

19. some seem to think people who do that are awful. but in the winter you HAVE to

warm up your cars. i like when i can still lock the car while it's running. i had a mark vii that had the keypad on the door. as long as i could remember the number i was ok. that wasn't always the case. lol. my car i have now i can take the key out of the key fob so i could still lock the car and leave it running. i never used to lock my car at all before. terrible at remembering. plus my cars were all rot rods and if someone wanted to steal it they probably wouldn't get very far. i am better at locking this one because it has the button on the fob.

it sure does suck when it's friggin cold out and your locks are frozen in the door. i have had that happen to me many times. i am always afraid it will happen with this one, but it hasn't happened yet.

[hedgehog]

36. Back in college, someone attempted to steal my husband's car

It was a '63 Nova, about 10 years old back then, but he'd installed an overdrive transmission that was a little touchy. His own brother couldn't figure out how to change gears with that car. Whoever stole it got it started OK, but gave up driving it before they got it out of the parking lot.

[NoPasaran]

8. Currently 75% of auto burglaries are happening to unlocked cars

If this law in enacted and everyone locks their vehicles, then 100% of break-ins will happen to locked autos. I expect a law mandating a fine for locking your car in the not-too-distant future.

[SoCalDem]

9. Here's my issue with that data

If the person wants to get the insurance to pay off, they are very likely to NOT say they left it unlocked, and if a car thief is caught in the car, he's also likely to say it was not locked.

Car thieves can get into a locked car without breaking a window, if they are "good" at it...but are they likely to tell the truth when caught ?

[ejpoeta]

24. well, if they are able to find a car unlocked it is more likely they will rob it than a locked one.

as for people not being honest about whether the car was locked, i can see that. i know that my sister had her car stolen and it WAS locked and in secure parking in rochester or buffalo. she drove a pontiac transport. they had their camera with newborn pictures of their youngest daughter on it that was stolen along with nintendo ds and a bunch of other things. it was damaged enough that they couldn't get it fixed but not enough for the insurance to total it. their door was locked. i guess what i am trying to say is that while it is good practice to lock your doors, even doing so isn't going to stop the problem. and i think the thieves would just break into locked cars more often. it's bad enough to be robbed.... fining someone for not locking their car door is ludicrous.

[NashVegas]

28. My Car Was Broken Into and Robbed

It was locked. Someone mangled my dash and took the car stereo. Police wouldn't even come out and investigate. I never replaced the stereo or the window, just covered it with plastic. After that I figured if anyone was so hard up that they'd break into THIS car, they needed it more than I did.

I have an acquaintance who took the doors right off of his Jeep and leaves nothing inside for burglars. And I see convertibles with the top down at the grocer's all the time. Maybe they have the right idea.

[SoCalDem]

32. The genius who stole my husband's truck did $2K damage to the dash

while stealing a PULL-OUT stereo..and he mangled the ignition with a screwdriver..State Farm paid to fix the truck, but it cost us $500 for the privilege of having his truck stolen.. It was found 2 days later.. someone had used it to move their stuff.. we found odd bits of moving detritus left behind.. a kid's homework, some photos, an old sweater.. His briefcase was never returned and because he had a spare set of keys inside and all sorts of ID, we had to cancel credit cards, replace all the locks to other vehicles & to the house, garage, gates & storage building.. That episode cost us over $1500 before all was said & done. We even had to change our bank account number since he had a checkbook in the briefcase too.

[hedgehog]

37. My husband parked an old Pontiac Sunbird out back behind the

barn until he gets a chance to strip out the parts he wants. It's all our land, but there is a path out there that we let the neighbors use and that gets used (without our permissin) by kids on 4 wheelers.

Anyways, someone broke the side window and tore some electronics out of the dash. The stuff they took is pretty useless and worth less. The broken window opened the interior of the car to the elements.

The doors were not locked.

[SoCalDem]

29. I once left my keys hanging in the damned car door

My husband ragged on me for that for YEARS!!

I always lock the car, but usually forget to lock the house:) It's always such a mess, that any self-respecting burglar would peek in & say "Shit someone already ransacked the place,,let's try another house"..:rofl:

[ejpoeta]

31. nice sign... my daughter just asked if it was real and you were giving away puppies. uggh.

[NeedleCast]

10. I Rarely Lock My Jeep Wrangler

It's just too easy to break into anyway. I make sure not to leave any visible valuables in it. If someone wants to get in it, I'd much rather they just open the door than slash open one of the plastic windows or cut through the soft top. I pretty much did the same thing with my last car (also a convertible). I guess these types of vehicles are the exception to normal rules about locking your car.

[Lucian]

11. Good gods. Have counties been so strapped for cash that they have to resort to this???

:wtf:

First, let a house burn down. Now, fining people for leaving their car unlocked. Both bullshit.

[Liberal_in_LA]

12. My car is older now, problem with handle makes me leave it unlocked sometimes.

So I get fined for having older car?

[d_r]

13. Where we used to live in Michigan

In Lansing, every so often someone would come through the street late at night and break in to cars. It didn't matter if ours were locked, they'd use some tool to get in it. Once they left a really big long screw driver. The funny thing is, all they were ever looking for was cell phones. I had a cell phone stolen that way. So you started to remember not to leave your cell phone in the car. Beyond that, they didn't take things like CD's. They didn't take the change in your cup holder change thing. When they stole my phone it was sitting on a couple of dollars cash. They left it. I called my phone in stolen the next day. When I got the bill there were HUNDREDS of calls made during those few hours. Like every second a call was made. All sorts of other countries called. I didn't have to pay the bill. The police didn't do a lot about it. Our neighbor got his truck pretty messed up by someone going through the back window. I just always tried to remember not to leave my phone in the car. Sometimes you'd see it was gone through but they never took other stuff. It was weird, I always figured it was a drug addict with some place to pawn off cell phones.

[ejpoeta]

15. i remember having cars i was afraid to lock because i couldn't get them unlocked.

i have had some really fun cars in my life. this is baloney. not everyone is driving a 2010 car. i think that fining someone for not locking their car is crap. getting robbed will be punishment enough. i will assume that maybe they haven't had that happen.

[SoCalDem]

17. My high school buddy had a car with a dead battery, so we always parked on a hill

so she could roll it backwards & pop the clutch to start it:)

[hedgehog]

20. WE had a car that had a bad ignition lock - you didn't need a key to turn it.

I got into the bad habit of driving without a key - until the day I got in and drove off, only to realize that the key to the locking gas cap was on my key ring back home!

[SoCalDem]

22. hahah.. My husband took my car one morning & left me a key for his

the problem? he did not leave me the key for the damned Club :)

[ejpoeta]

27. lol. explain that to your boss. sorry i won't be in i can't get the club off my car.

[ejpoeta]

26. i had a car like that once. the key broke off in the ignition so i just drove it without a key.

[SoCalDem]

33. My old Dodge ran with a 1/2 key jammed in the ignition for years

I was a bit too forceful one day and the stupid aluminum key broke..so I used a half-key for the rest of the time I had that car:)

[happyslug]

58. My Jeep had that problem for a few years

I broke the key off in the ignition, had it for years. No problems till I left a friend use it. She was owned a bar and was trying to get it open. Hired a person from the half way house to help her. He did fine for a few months, then he stole my Jeep and took it to Wilkinsburg Borough PA (In Allegheny County, it is an very old suburb of Pittsburgh). I live in Johnstown PA, 75 mils away. The Police found it a few days later (This why I knew it was in Wilkinsburg). Did not fix the key, but it was stolen a few months later and left on top of Allegheny Mountain by someone who had used it to go Four Wheeling.

I fixed the Key after the second theft, but a few years later it was Stolen while I was visiting my Mother in Pittsburgh. I left it parked in front of her house at night, I woke up at 6:00 am to pick up my sister who was coming to Pittsburgh by train and found it was missing. I was picking up my sister with another sister (we had always plan to use her car) and every time we turned a corner she would say "There's your Jeep". She did this for over a day and a half, till we took what I call the "Hill Route" from my Mother's home (It means going up a STEEP hill for one block, Google says it is a 25-38% grade, i.e. for every one hundred feet, it goes up 25-38 feet in elevation).

Anyway, when we reached the top, it is only 300 feet, she made the comment one more time, but then we looked and there was the Jeep. Some one had taken it for a joy ride and just left it a block away from where they took it. I suspect about 20-30 miles if I remember was on on the speedometer correctly (Today, from memory AND then from memory when I was last in the Car and when it was found). The ignition was broke, again, but you could turn it on and I drove it that way for a few weeks and then had it repaired.

Just a comment, I knew no one wanted the car for anything but a joy ride, for I purchased it new in 1996 (It was a 1995 Model), and the new Jeep came out in the Spring of 1996 as a 1997 model (There was no 1996 model Jeep Wrangler). By the time it was stolen it was ten years old, parts for old Jeep are cheap (AMC used a lot of off the market parts instead of their own custom made parts). Thus it could only be stolen for someone who wanted a ride (And could drive a Standard Transmission, something very few people know how to do now a days).

Except for those three incidents, I have NEVER locked the Jeep (Can't when I had the Ignition fixed, it came with a new key, I have lost the old keys which is still the keys for the Doors).

[MrScorpio]

16. Blaming the victim...

Your tax dollars at work!

[walldude]

18. Wow I would love to live in a place where they FORCE

you to lock your doors. What a wonderful community that must be. :eyes: I don't even lock my doors at home. In my neighborhood we look out for each other.

[hedgehog]

38. I don't lock my doors for four reasons.

1. Most of my locks are "secured" with skeleton keys.

2. We're right out on the state highway and visible to traffic and the neighbors.

3. This old house settles from time to time so the bolts don't line up with the latch plates anyways.

and, most importantly,

4. our neighbors all have better stuff to steal.

[Caliman73]

21. That is ridiculous

Talk about government overreach. That is like saying women who where sexy clothing are asking to get harassed. Obviously not as serious as sexual assault and rape, but similar concept. People should not steal other people's stuff. It doesn't matter if it isn't locked up. My neighbor sometimes leaves his door open, I don't walk into his house and sit on his couch and watch his tv, cause it isn't MINE. What a stupid policy.

[SoCalDem]

23. but but but..what if he had a 60 in plasma?

:rofl:

[Caliman73]

41. Well...

There are always exceptions...I mean he should really lock his door, and...I mean, yeah, maybe he is asking for it after all, but only if its 1080p :toast:


I used to live in LA and for a time the parts of LA where you had to have the iron screen door and bars around the windows. I understand about security.

I moved up north to Santa Cruz and I got lax. I left my doors unlocked and left stuff out. About 6 years into living here I had a bike stolen that was hanging unlocked. I do lock my car, and I usually lock my doors when I am not home. They are usually unlocked when I am there, except now my 20 month old can open doors. I understand that locking stuff up is a preventative measure, but a fine? That is nanny state government.

[hedgehog]

39. Sad to say, 95% of people follow the rules. It's the other 5%

who force us to have locks, police forces, prisons etc.

[Caliman73]

42. Yes, that is all perfectly understandable.

What is not understandable is getting fined for not locking your doors.

[BreweryYardRat]

35. Unnecessary.

Having their car and/or their stuff stolen will teach people not to leave their doors unlocked.

Personally, I'm paranoid, so I lock mine 99.9% of the time. (The other 0.01% is because I'm also forgetful.)

[hobbit709]

40. I drive a 19 year old truck with nothing in it except trash.

What will they try next, checking to see if your front door is locked.
If somebody tried to get into my house, they would be met by 200+ lbs of fur and teeth.

A friend of mine used to leave his Yugo parked in front of his house with the keys in it. Somebody stole it once and bailed about two blocks later. The stereo didn't work and the overpowering smell of a basket of dirty socks got to them.

[madmom]

43. Hubby always told me no need to lock because the price of having it repaired is

much more than the value of anything left inside of a 1998 Jeep.

[Raine]

44. I ALWAYS lock my car, just once I forgot and

someone stole my cell phone out of it while the car was in my driveway. Luckily I found the phone in a trashcan next to the bus stop on the corner. So NEVER EVER to I leave it unlocked.

[ejpoeta]

45. or never leave your cell phone in your car

[SoCalDem]

46. around here the heat inside a car would melt it..or fry your ear off when you used it

:)

[ejpoeta]

48. you know, it's been cold here so i wish i had that problem.

a month ago it was so hot i could see what you mean. i try not to leave my phone in the car because i try to keep it on my person if i can anyway doesn't always happen.

[Raine]

54. Actually I never leave the phone out there either but

I had forgotten it (along with forgetting to the lock the car) and it was in the door pocket. It coudn't be seen but it shows how opportunistic a thief can be. Always on the lookout for an unlocked car just in case they might find something in it. I think they took the phone just to be mean when they found nothing else since they immediately trashed it.

[ejpoeta]

57. i am forgetful and have left my phone in the car. i am wary

because my sister (the same one who had her pontiac minivan stolen) had her car broken into and her gps stolen. apparently thieves look for clues like those things you stick to your window and such. so i have taken to unplugging my mp3 cord and stuffing it in the cubby and if i leave my ipod in the car i will put it in the glove box. and you are probably right they were probably just being mean. a general lack of respect for other people's stuff i think.

[hughee99]

47. What happens if you have a Jeep?

Did you remember to zip up your doors?

[SoCalDem]

49. a ziploc?

taped to the top?

[hughee99]

52. I've never heard of a thief deterred by cloth doors and a zipper before.

And I guess leaving the top down on a convertible is out of the question.

[happyslug]

59. No, leave them steal it, my has been stolen three times.

See my previous post for the three times. Now, I have a hard top, but even it is easy to enter even if the door is locked (Jeep doors are NOT designed to hold you in, there are design only to keep the weather out). The window channel is easy to by pass, and the lock is simple do to the fact it must fit into a very thin door. The locks on the jeep is to keep Insurance people happy that the Jeep can be locked, not to actually work at keeping people out.

[proteus_lives]

50. Over the top but you're a dumbass if you don't lock-up your car.

[happyslug]

60. If my car is stolen, I get retail value for it

If I was to sell it, I will get only the re-sale value for it. For my 1995 Jeep that is the difference between $2250 (re-sale in Excellent Condition $1400 in Fair Condition) and $5050 (Purchase). For my 1997 Dodge Dakota the difference is $4225 (Purchase) and $1850 (Retail in Excellent condition).

Sorry, it would pay me to have either vehicle stolen (and NOT recovered). I am NOT going to leave someone take it, but to lock either up, given their value, is marginal. Given the fact I am more likely to lock the keys inside the Vehicle then to have either of them stolen, I prefer the ability to recover the keys left in the Vehicle over either vehicle being stolen. Thus I see no need to lock either vehicle up, it does not pay me since I only really need one of them (And I have left the keys in the car and locked the keys in the car much more then I have had any car stolen). It is nice to have two vehicles (The insurance is about the same for both Vehicles) but I have and can live with just one as long as it is running. The inconvenience of NOT being able to get to my keys for they are locked in the car is a greater fear of mine then any fear of either car being stolen.

[SmileyRose]

51. Hey, a 2fer! Blame the victim AND using the cops as tax collectors.

Whoever dreamed up this proposed law is a genius.

[Roon]

53. I was at the park once and pulled into the porta-potties to pee

I parked right outside and went in without locking my doors. In the 90 seconds that I was in the bathroom, someone got into the car and took a pack of cigarrettes...just like that!

[bergie321]

55. I had a car window smashed

For half a pack of cigarettes and less than $3 in change. $150 to replace the glass.

[Mimosa]

56. What a stupid waste of cops time. n/t

[happyslug]

61. Police exist only to keep the peace

That is what I tell my clients all the time. They exist to keep the peace, if they is any real legal dispute, lawyers handle it unless the problem involved disturbing the Peace, then and only then are the Police Involved.

Now, as to tickets, it had been the practice since Colonial days for the Police to pay for themselves by giving out tickets. This is how almost every state and Municipality pay for their Police. The Local District Attorney and the Courts are also paid for mostly through the collection of fines and costs, NOT TAXES. Do to this reason, every police force makes an effort to give out tickets. The Police may hate giving them out, but they know that is how they are paid. If they do NOT accept that unpleasant fact, they supervisors and the Politicians in their Municipality quickly makes it clear, Police pay for themselves via tickets (Not all Police forces are paid via tickets, but except for some of the big urban police forces, tickets are the way almost all police are paid).

Thus Police may not want to give out such tickets, but once it becomes clear that it is a good source of revenue the City will get the Police to give out the tickets. Like the old saying, "Bullshit, walks, money talks".