Honest John wrote that this topic doesn't need two threads. To my mind, expressed as it has been here in The Back Room, it doesn't even need one thread. So I've withdrawn it.
If someone has something sensible to say on the subject of joyriding, that's fine: by all means go ahead. But I don't want to read any more rabble-rousing rants. Experience has shown that absolute freedom of speech here has the effect of stopping most contributors from speaking freely; at best it distracts the forum from what it's meant to be.
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Right on Martyn!
Even if you think that death is poetic justice in th case of joy riding the gleeful expression of this view should shock most right minded people.
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Well, I hope this is acceptable.......
As regards joy-riding, or attacks on the car generally, I think it worth while to have one of these very visible Halford's steering wheel locks, the idea being to make the nice people (I must not be rude to them, it seems) see that they are going to have some trouble getting away with my vehicle and, hopefully, look for easier prey. The fancy security systems are fine, but by the time they are triggered damage has been done; also, I have read that the "best" professionals can defeat these systems very smartly, but will not risk taking time and carrying tools to hack off a good steering wheel lock.
The main thing is to discipline yourself ALWAYS to use it.
Cheers, Alex
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Alex. L. Dick wrote:
> nice people (I must not be rude to them, it seems)
I think you could be rude to them but people expressing glee at them burning them to death trapped in a car wreck seemed a little harsh...
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They didn't have to burn to death - it was a risk they took when they stole someone's car. Same as I risk having mine stolen when I park it in the road.
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When I recently mislaid the keys to my steering wheel lock, an AA patrolman had to give up after trying to cut through it for 45 minutes. Luckily I found them again, but the lock, which was only a cheap unbranded model certainly impressed.
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The difference is that he was trying to remove the lock without damaging the car.
The average thief doesn't care about that.
M.
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In a recent TV test of steering locks one 'professional' managed to get one removed in less time than it took the unfortunate to fit the contraption when he left his car!
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Point taken on how easy it would be for a pro thief to remove a steering wheel lock, or for an amateur to cut a section from the wheel to remove it; but I once read an article by a cop who was on a vehicle theft squad, and he reckoned that despite the boasting of car thieves about how they can beat any anti-theft system, the majority are just chancers who could not even open a can of beans. Steering wheel locks or any similar device will force the majority of thieves to move on somewhere else, where they will find a car with the doors unlocked or even the keys still in the ignition.
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I think that's a good point.
If it is a "real" thief who wants your car, then he'll get it and there isn't much you can do about it.
However a chancer or joyrider is likely to move elsewhere in the carpark.
I wonder how many cars are stolen by joyriders, and how many by thieves who go out prepared for the even.
By the way, I once had a Hillman Hunter and I put one of those yellow things which goes over the handbrake and locks on to the gear lever. I then lost my own key and had the very devil of a time, including a large hammer and much damage, getting the damn thing off.
M.
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if the REALLY want your car theyll just tow it onto a car recovery vehicle and sort out the locks/alarms later at their leisure back at their den
quite a lot of high value stuff goes this way
i wouldnt be surprized if some recovery trucks registered to legit buisnesses wernt used for this from time to time (lets face it of course they are)
and it just looks to passing public (or police) like the car has broken down/been recovered after bieng stolen or whatever
fairly suspicious the big time car thiefs in places like milton keynes arnt well connected in the garage business and other dodgy undertakings, and probably fairly well connected with the outfit the local police use to tow cars away... ah well we will never find out since its far more important to catch speeding motorists?
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I thought the experienced thief removed this type of lock without sawing. Took about 10 seconds on the television prog. Brute force in the right place seemed the name of the game.
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All of which brings me back to my earlier posting about the Auto Taser. Try sawing that off and enjoy 50,000 volts courtesy of me!
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yea but if your car catches fire and a fireman starts putting that fire out your stupid tazer will zap him as well you idiot
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I don't understand the point about why my car should catch fire. I thought the discussion was about steering locks and their resistance or otherwise to removal by thieves. As for being called an idiot, all I can say is it takes one to know one.
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Censored.
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Now then, now then
we'll have none of these liberal views here, this is a local website etc etc.
as ever
Mark
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Think of it as Evolution In Action...
While I would not wish a flaming painful death on anyone.... Still... I find it hard to weep for the toe rags that bring death upon themselves and their mates by their idiot antics...
As to defeating Wheel and pedal locks... I saw a Police anticrime demo with a "reformed" kid who used a lunch box thermos full of liquid air (that he said he had no trouble getting at a local chop shop that used it for cold hardening speed parts) he made a holder for it about the lock with some Al foil and filled it up... waited a few moments for it to coald soak and hit it with a hammer... shattered like glass...
A good imobilizer will defeat joyriders... but if a pro wants your car he will just steal a recovery lorry with a hoist first.... the most efective systems seem to be the LoJack sorts of radio units that let the police have a shot of recovering your car... the best of these use thumbprint recognition eachtime the car is started... normaly hidden inplace like under the ashtray the signal is sent to the cops if it is started with out the thumb print...
~Randolph
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Agreed about deterrent and chancers. Have you seen the home office stats about vehicle theft? 80% of cars were parked unlocked. Some had the keys in the ignition. A woman was interviewed on breakfast tv last year because her car had been stolen with her child in the baby seat. The interview centred around the theft and the appalling action of the thief until the woman told a stunned interviewer that she had left the engine running on the petrol forecourt with the child in the back while she paid for the fuel. I thought that the woman needed therapy until another guest explained how common it for vehicles to be stolen in this way. Acording to the home office, cars that are properly locked, parked in a relatively safe area and have no visible items on display (mobiles, handbags, coats) account for only 5-10% of car crime and usually because the vehicle is specifically wanted by the thief.
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A few years ago part of my job included repairing lots of Ford door locks. Can't remember the name of the lock, but they're the one's with different angles machined on the locking bit. Still fitted on new Transits' (don't know about car's)We used to fit the repair kits, so as the original key could be used. The angles machined on the key correspond to numbered tumblers in the lock. After rebuilding a few locks and memorising angles and numbers, I knew a key number just by looking at the angles on the key. (easier than you might think) Easy to get a key cut as well.
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I used to have a gear stick lock on my old Metro. One night in Newcastle joyriders tried and failed to steal the car. Whether in a drug-induced haze they mistook my 1 litre City X for a Renault 5 Turbo I don't know. Wish they'd succeeded though.
Chris
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nice people (I must not be rude to them, it seems)
> I think you could be rude to them but people expressing glee at them burning them to death trapped in a car wreck seemed a little harsh...
Unless, perhaps, these joyriders are the same kind of yobs who pour petrol on people and throw matches at them for fun, or kidnap them and torture them as a weekend's entertainment?
Or maybe even mow down innocent pedestrians, or ram innocent motorists head on whilst speeding the wrong way down a dual carriageway?
Might not make the glee acceptable, perhaps, but possibly understandable.
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