Florida car theft, Keys left in cars

[OldCoyote]

St. Petersburg Mayor said most car theft is because from leaving the keys in the car.

autos.aol.com/article/leading-cause-car-theft-florida-st-petersburg-keys-left/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl13%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D360220

NO it is not, The leading cause of car theft is someone stealing the car.

Blaming the victim instead of the thief.

 

[NancysSummerSip]

Yabbut, why earn yourself a trip to the bottom of the food chain by helping out the bad guys?

1) Thou shalt not leave the keys in the car.
2) Thou shalt not leave the keys in the car, in the ignition, with the motor running.
3) Thou shalt not park the car in a public place and "hide" the ignition key in the wheel well. Confucius say: Oldest trick in book will get you nowhere, and you will be walking there.

And one other caveat:
4) Thou shalt not lead crooks into temptation by leaving wallet, purse, computer, cellphone, jewelry, messenger bag, etc., in plain view on the seat, dashboard, floor or center console.

[Angel!]

NO it is not, The leading cause of car theft is someone stealing the car.

Yes, but the leading reason someone becomes a victim is because they left their keys in the car.  I don't see that is victim blaming, I see it as teaching people what they should do to avoid being the easy victim with a big bullseye on their back.

[Tennesseer]

Aug 20, 2013 10:22:42 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

St. Petersburg Mayor said most car theft is because from leaving the keys in the car.

autos.aol.com/article/leading-cause-car-theft-florida-st-petersburg-keys-left/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl13%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D360220

NO it is not, The leading cause of car theft is someone stealing the car.

Blaming the victim instead of the thief.

 

And had they not left their keys in the car, the owner would still have a car.

It's called responsible ownership of property.

[OldCoyote]

Why should we have to lock everything up.

If I were to walk into a 7-11 store pickup a six pack , leave with it, we are going to blame the clerk because they didn't lock it up?

[Tennesseer]

Aug 20, 2013 11:03:04 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

Whyin the carshould we have to lock everything up.

If I wereIf you know cars are being stolen becauseccar owners are leaving the keys in the car or cars are being stolen becau to walk into a 7-11 store pickup a six pack , leave with it, we are going to blame the clerk because they didn't lock it up?

I thought this thread was about leaving the car keys in the car. Who said anything about locking the car?  

But now that you have changed the subject of the thread (locked cars), if you know cars are being stolen in your area because car owners are leaving the keys in their unlocked cars, who's the idiot if your car gets stolen?  Here's a hint:  it's the car owner.

[Angel!]

Aug 20, 2013 11:03:04 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

Why should we have to lock everything up.

If I were to walk into a 7-11 store pickup a six pack , leave with it, we are going to blame the clerk because they didn't lock it up?

No one is blaming the clerk or the owner of the vehicle.  But, if you don't want have to go through the pain of being a victim, then some self-protection is probably a good idea. 

If something simple (like not leaving keys in the car) significantly reduces your chances of your vehicle getting stolen, then why would you leave the keys in the vehicle, tempt fate, and then have to suffer if your vehicle does get taken. Sure, the criminals are still to blame, but odds are they won't get caught or prosecuted, your vehicle will be trashed, you will owe a deductable to cover the insurance, and you have to go through the whole PITA experience.  I will just take my keys out of my car and avoid the whole damn thing.

In your example - there is a reason that stores do lock up more of their more valuable merchandise.  It isn't their fault if someone steals it, but they have to suffer the consequences of the lost merchandise if they don't lock it up.

[OldCoyote]

The article was trying to place the blame on the victim.  The responsibility lies with the thief.

[Tennesseer]

Aug 20, 2013 11:36:58 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

The responsibility to secure one's belongings is the owner.  Always.

[workpublic]

The responsibility to secure one's belongings is the owner. Always.

in an amoral society, yes.

[Tennesseer]

Aug 20, 2013 11:51:52 GMT -5 workpublic said:

The responsibility to secure one's belongings is the owner. Always.

in an amoral society, yes.

We have always lived in an amoral society.  Theft of property has been with us always.  

[jkapp]

Aug 20, 2013 11:03:04 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

Why should we have to lock everything up.

If I were to walk into a 7-11 store pickup a six pack , leave with it, we are going to blame the clerk because they didn't lock it up?

If the clerk was behind the counter watching you leave with the six-pack, then no.

But if the clerk was in the bathroom taking a , and you walk in and take a six-pack, then yes I would blame the clerk for not locking the store up

[jkapp]

Aug 20, 2013 12:05:13 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Aug 20, 2013 11:51:52 GMT -5 workpublic said:

The responsibility to secure one's belongings is the owner. Always.

in an amoral society, yes.

We have always lived in an amoral society.  Theft of property has been with us always.  

Exactly...as a favorite quote of mine goes: the world is a shithole, full of shitty little scumbags, who are scared shitless.

Give one of these scumbags an opportunity to steal your stuff and they'll take it every time...

[OldCoyote]

Ok, Since I'm stunned that no one holds the thief accountable for their actions,  At what point would the thief be accountable.
1. No keys in the car
2. No keys and the car is locked.
3. No keys, car is locked, and in the garage.



I think these are valid questions,  I think it relates to our attitude about honesty and ethics in general.

[resolution]

Aug 22, 2013 7:05:28 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

Ok, Since I'm stunned that no one holds the thief accountable for their actions,  At what point would the thief be accountable.
1. No keys in the car
2. No keys and the car is locked.
3. No keys, car is locked, and in the garage.



I think these are valid questions,  I think it relates to our attitude about honesty and ethics in general.

Are you my husband? We are still working out a compromise for this.

The current situation is that I won't fuss if the truck is parked in a friend's front yard and he leaves his wallet and keys on the front seat. But if we are in a parking lot for a business where no one will drive me home, the keys and money need to come inside. I have no intention of becoming stranded somewhere because my husband wants to hold people to an ethical standard.

I believe that the thief should be held accountable in all situations, but in the mean time I want to be able to get home.

[billisonboard]

When working with children on group problem solving, sometimes it is necessary to go through the step of:  "Okay, we have fully established exactly who was at fault.  Now, let's focus on what we need to do to solve the problem before us."

[billisonboard]

Aug 22, 2013 8:30:22 GMT -5 @lonewolf said:

Don't people have car alarms, anymore? Just wondering.

I think my alarm is set by locking the vehicle which if my keys are in it, I don't do.

[Tennesseer]

No one has said the thief is not a thief.  Quit the drama.

My home is located in a cove with 15 other homes.  I have lived in this home for 17 years.  During those 17 years, there have only been two crimes comitted in our cove.  Both crimes involved the theft of items from a vehicle parked in the owners' driveway.  Both crimes involved taking items from an unlocked vehicle.

Is it just a coincidence the thefts involved unlocked cars?  I think not.

Theft is a crime of opportunity.  Don't give thieves an opportunity.

[busymom]

The police don't even prosecute here anymore, if you leave your keys in the car, or you left the car running to run into a store for "just a minute". 

[OldCoyote]

Believe me everything I have is secured.  My trucked is locked even when I'm sitting in it, I have video cams in my truck. I have alarms and video on my house.
We have dogs,  That said I don't live in a bad neighborhood.

On another note, In my youth I have caught someone attempting to steal from me on two different occasions.
On one, I Physically demo to the thief how unhappy I was with him.  We went our own ways, the police were not called, (mostly because I didn't want to be charge with assault.)
He didn't pickup his hat when he ran off.



  

[billisonboard]

Aug 22, 2013 8:53:18 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

Believe me ...

Oh, I have no problem believing you on this.

[busymom]

In our state, NO the insurance company WILL NOT pay for damage to your stolen car if there's proof the keys were left in it.

[Angel!]

Aug 22, 2013 7:05:28 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

Ok, Since I'm stunned that no one holds the thief accountable for their actions,  At what point would the thief be accountable.
1. No keys in the car
2. No keys and the car is locked.
3. No keys, car is locked, and in the garage.



I think these are valid questions,  I think it relates to our attitude about honesty and ethics in general.

Who isn't holding the thief accountable?  The thief is still wrong.  But, it doesn't matter how wrong someone else is if I am seriously impacted by their actions.  We should each have a responsibility to protect ourselves from others.  Whether it be locking the car or looking both ways at a crosswalk.  If I am hit in a crosswalk, it doesn't matter if the driver of the vehicle that hit me was wrong and will be prosecuted, I will still be dead.  It doesn't matter if a thief is wrong, my car is still gone.

If you don't care if you vehicle was stolen then leave the keys inside.  If you care, then it makes more sense to protect yourself rather than trying to change all the other people in the world.  You can't control the actions of others, but you can reasonably protect yourself from being a victim of their actions.

[thyme4change]

I watch that show called "I almost got away with it."  It is mostly about criminals on the run - often after they broke out of jail.  I am amazed at how often these guys find cars with the key in it.  Every story has at least one time they were trying to get away and found a car with the keys in it.  In some cases they will find 2 or 3 cars.  The first one runs out of gas, so they walk around various parking lots for a couple of hours and find one.

Take your keys.

[ZaireinHD]

I watched that show as well "I Almost Got Away With It" - but I can't find it anymore. I also can't find the show "Bait Car" - where police leaves a running car with tracking devices in high car theft areas. I laugh all the time cause I can understand why they take these cars!

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Aug 20, 2013 10:22:42 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

St. Petersburg Mayor said most car theft is because from leaving the keys in the car.

autos.aol.com/article/leading-cause-car-theft-florida-st-petersburg-keys-left/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl13%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D360220

NO it is not, The leading cause of car theft is someone stealing the car.

Blaming the victim instead of the thief.

 

True.  However, as a claims adjuster I will tell you this- if you leave the keys in your car, or your doors unlocked in your house, you will likely have your claim denied.  When things walk out of your house without a sign of forced entry- it is dubbed "mysterious disappearance" and it is excluded from coverage.  If you fail to take 'reasonable precautions' to prevent the theft of property, you're not covered 9 out of 10 times.

[workpublic]

We have always lived in an amoral society. Theft of property has been with us always.

maybe there is some hope for the future

www.nj.com/passaic-county/index.ssf/2013/08/crime_doesnt_pay_these_guys_do_men_leave_cash_for_goods_after_wayne_store_is_left_open_overnight.html