Preventing Carjacking / Theft

Thousands of unsuspecting motorists are carjacked every year.

To minimize the danger of being carjacked:

1. Think of saving your life first. Only then, think of your car and what's in it.
   
   
2. If another car bumps your car, stay inside with the windows shut and the door locked and drive to the nearest police or fire station.
   
   
3. Don’t stop at isolated pay phones, cash machines or newspaper machines where you could become a carjacking victim.
   
   
4. Stay alert to people lurking near or moving toward your parked car.
   
   
5. Always keep the windows of your car shut and doors locked, whether you’re in or out of your car.
   
   
6. Park only in well-lighted areas.

1. Keep your registration card in your wallet instead of your glove compartment.
   
   
2. Use paint or an indelible marker to put the vehicle identification number (VIN) under the engine hood and trunk lid and on the battery. This number is usually found on the dashboard on the driver’s side of the car.
   
   
3. If you have to leave personal property in your car, leave it in the trunk.
   
   
4. Keep your car in a garage and lock the garage door.
   
   
5. Use a security device like a steering wheel lock or a gear shift column lock.

1. Year, make, model and color of the car.
   
   
2. Approximate time the car was stolen.
   
   
3. Description of anyone you may have seen loitering around your car before it was stolen.
   
   
4. Names of any witnesses.

With Permission © Insurance Information Institute, Inc. - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED -