The insurer has asked policyholders to make locking their vehicles their New Year’s resolutions.
AAA Insurance has asked drivers in Kansas to prevent auto theft by making locking their cars their New Year’s resolutions.
This single easy step is one of the fastest ways to make certain thieves leave their vehicles alone.
According to AAA Insurance, simply locking a car – and bring the keys with them – when it’s not being used will save policyholders time, money and heartache without needing to make any real effort. The insurer is helping its policyholders to do what they can to prevent auto theft, because the issue is on the rise at a striking rate.
According to country-wide data, 2020 brought the highest number of stolen vehicles in more than ten years. That trend continued to keep itself up throughout last year as well. As a result, the insurer is advising policyholders to use their New Year’s resolution to do what they reasonably can to keep their own vehicles locked up.
The insurer hopes drivers will take auto theft more seriously and do what they can to prevent it.
This involves both locking their cars and taking the keys with them. It’s not just a matter of making sure the doors are locked, but also stopping would-be thieves from accessing the keys themselves.
“There could not be a resolution that takes less time and effort and yet the savings could be dramatic,” said AAA Insurance spokesperson Gary Tomes in Kansas. “More often than not, vehicle theft is a crime of opportunity. Lock your car, take your keys and take that opportunity away.”
According to National Insurance Crime Bureau, almost 9,500 people in Kansas reported their vehicles stolen in 2020, the most recent data year. During that year, the auto theft rate in the state was 15 percent higher than it was in 2019.
Some vehicle models were stolen more often than others. The ten top stolen vehicles in the state, listed from most frequently stolen, are: full-size Ford pickup trucks, full-size Chevrolet pickup trucks, full-size Dodge pickup trucks, Honda Accords, Honda Civics, full-size GMC pickups, Toyota Camrys, Nissan Altimas, Ford Fusions, and Chevrolet Impalas.