Gold Coast car owners urged to be vigilant after surge in vehicle thefts

Experts are urging owners to take steps to protect their vehicles after shock new figures showed a big rise in the number car thefts on the Gold Coast

OWNERS are being urged to take steps to protect their vehicles after shock new figures showed a surge in car thefts on the Gold Coast.

New data from the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council (NMVTRC) showed that there were 1372 “short term” vehicle thefts in the 2017-18 financial year – up 133 from the previous year.

Short term thefts, according to the NMVTRC, are vehicles stolen “by opportunistic thieves for use in the commission of other crimes, joy-riding, or transport” and then found by authorities and returned to their rightful owner.

The statistics show that almost a third of all short term thefts were recovered within 24 hours of the vehicle going missing, more than three quarters within two weeks and 87 per cent with a month.

NMVTRC Chief Executive Geoff Hughes said about half of all vehicles stolen in Australia were taken from people’s homes.

“The top theft targets are generally mainstream vehicles, not luxury cars,” Mr Hughes said.

“In most cases these thefts are opportunistic, and our data tells us that more than 70 per cent of late model vehicle (post 2001) thefts occur with offenders having access to the vehicle’s key. This is because modern vehicles all have immobilisers as standard equipment and they cannot be stolen without the keys.

The aftermath of an incident involving an allegedly stolen car recently.

MORE NEWS

Coast icon ‘snatched in the night’

New light rail route coming to Coast

Coast schools with biggest OP score improvements

“Generally, the thieves are breaking into homes to steal car keys, taking advantage of keys left in accessible locations such as near open doors or windows. I want to stress that in the overwhelming majority of cases (95%) there is no confrontation with the homeowner – the thieves are simply entering the home and taking the keys without the owner being aware. Motorists can greatly minimise their risk by simply never leaving keys in plain view of open doors and windows.”

SUBSCRIBE TO THE GOLD COAST BULLETIN - JUST $1 FOR THE FIRST 28 DAYS

There is some good news – most vehicles are recovered.

“We categorise motor vehicle theft by two distinct motivations – short term theft and profit-motivated theft,” Mr Hughes said.

“The majority of vehicle theft in Australia is short term theft (72%). Profit-motivated theft is vehicles stolen for conversion to profit either as a whole vehicle or as separated parts through various illegal methods.”