.jpg)
.jpg)
National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council boss Ray Carroll says 16,082 vehicles were stolen in the first quarter of this year, a leap of 10 per cent over the previous quarter.
This follows a 5 per cent national rise last year after a decade of declining theft rates with thefts in Queensland up 26 per cent and 17 per cent in WA. Mr Carroll claims tougher economic conditions have produced "winners and losers" in society with the losers turning to motor vehicle crime as "easy money".
"It seems the losers are people like those working in the small end of the motor vehicle industry such as repairs, some of whom operate in a mixed climate of legitimate and illegitimate practices," he said. "They are finding it harder to operate legitimately so they ramp up illegitimate practices as an easy way to make money."
He says there has also been a sharp rise in "opportunistic short-term car theft". "The crunch in the economy is being felt hard by easily disenfranchised groups such as young, unskilled workers and jobless," he said.
"It's easy for them to fall back into crime such as stealing a car, often to do a house burglary or other crimes."
Carroll says there is a range of solutions that the council, motor vehicle industry and state and federal governments are looking at, but motorists must also practise "key security" to thwart opportunistic thefts.
"A byproduct of better security in modern cars such as immobilisers is that criminals steal the keys from your house or garage," he said.
"There has been a big spike in sneak thefts where crooks are taking the opportunity to walk into someone's house even if they are home, find car keys left on the kitchen bench or still in the car in a locked garage, jump in the car and they're gone. "Your car keys are the difference between having your car stolen and not. Motorists need to think and practise key security."
He said the result of rising car thefts could be an increase in insurance premiums. "The bulk of a premium is calculate on the cost of crashes, not theft, but low theft rates over the past decade have helped offset rising costs of crash repairs, keeping a lid on insurance premiums," he said. "Now with car theft going up, insurance companies seeing rises in theft claims will flow the costs back into rises in premiums."
Insurance Council of Australia boss Rob Whelan said insurers received more than 7000 vehicle theft claims totalling $50.5 million for the last quarter. "An increase in insurance claims, and rising levels of theft or attempted theft, can have an impact on insurance premiums as insurers take into account the likelihood and risk of theft occurring," he said.
5 things car thieves love:
Car keys easy to find in a home break-in, giving a double-whammy
Cars parked in poorly lit areas, where nobody will see them
Cars left untouched for weeks, where the owner may not notice them
Cars with charging cords, suggesting satnavs and other valuable items might be inside
Cars with no alarm system activated - a quick smash and the thief is in.
