Russ harper’s Weblog

21st Century Dick Turpin

Vehicle theft has and always will be there whether we like it or not, even from the days of Dick Turpin and before. The big difference is that due to technology we can locate where it is immediately. Fleet management or anti- theft tracking systems are widely used to protect businesses assets in transit. The cost for this kind of service is from as little as £1 a day, which allows you to track when a vehicle ignition has been switched on and off. An additional benefit to this type of tracking is that businesses then have the ability to work out where a vehicle is most cost effective in today’s climate fuel costs.
Car alarms have again improved as the years have gone by from the old pendulum type to sophisticated systems that allow you to cut the engine from your own pc.
Deadlocks / Slam locks - are a very much a required security for commercial vehicle owners. Commercial vehicle owners have to travel around with their biggest assets to their business i.e. their tools. They are a massive target for vehicle theft and are essential these days to have Deadlocks / and slam locks installed.
Deadlocks - just like your home mortise lock, when you turn your lock the mechanism puts out a metal bar into a receiver plate in the doorpost rendering it useless for anybody to gain access to your belongings
Slam Locks – these are ideal for delivery vehicles etc. If your hands are full you can easily close the door by either letting it close on its own (if it’s on a hill or sprung) or by closing without using your hands.
Armour plate – This particular system is used with your existing handle. The armour plate covering the lock barrel or handle assembly hopefully stopping the would be thief from damaging your vehicle. Almost every day I speak to somebody about a quote for his or her vehicle for some sort of antitheft device unfortunately it’s usually the day after the theft. I find that not many people like spending money before the theft! Or the damage has already been done causing inconvenience in time to sort the problem out or to replace the stolen items, and in some cases losing the job they should have done while getting their vehicle repaired and replacing equipment stolen.
The secret to good physical security lies with key control. The best locks in the world become useless if keys are available to anyone
As car alarms become more and more sophisticated so do the car thieves themselves. A motor vehicle is stolen every 30 seconds across the UK. Older cars are easier targets for the opportunist thief and newer vehicles fall pray to more professional car thieves. These vehicles are usually either used for joy riding which usually end up being set on fire or broken for spares
The vehicles that are recovered are usually severely damaged. Windows, doors and steering columns are the usual damage but the cars that have been used for joy riding are usually written off by the insurance broker.