Police say car sharing vehicles are starting to be stolen across Melbourne
The vehicles of car-sharing companies operating in Melbourne are being targeted by thieves, police say. But the businesses claim their cars are protected by “sophisticated technologies” and are actually harder to steal.
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Thieves are targeting vehicles of car sharing companies operating in Melbourne, police say.
Detectives have noticed a rise in car sharing vehicles thefts in recent months, with police now working with the businesses to try and make them harder to steal.
It comes after new figures revealed nearly 20,000 vehicles were taken across the state in the year ending September 2019, with Hume (1169), Casey (1024), Darebin (896) and Greater Dandenong (851) the hardest hit areas.
Car sharing is a service that allows people rent a communal vehicle for short periods of time – either by the hour or day.
It is aimed at those who only need to drive a few times a week or month.
At least five car sharing companies operate in Melbourne – Flexicar, GoGet, Oyo, Popcar and RACV Car Share.
Only Popcar said they had experienced instances of theft – and while the remaining companies did not deny it hadn’t occurred, they didn’t address the question directly.
Superintendent Sean Woods said police were working with the companies on target hardening measures.
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“The ride sharing cars are starting to be targeted, it's been in the last couple of months we've noticed a spike,” he said.
“There's been an increase and when we've had a look at how it's occurring we saw that there was an easy fix to it, so that's the reason why we're working with the companies to fix that.”
There are more than 1100 car share vehicles available in Melbourne, with 574 designated parking spaces within the City of Melbourne.
The council hopes to increase that to 2000 by 2021.
Popcar director Anthony Welsh said vehicle theft came at a “substantial cost” to the business, as well being a great inconvenience for frequent users of that specific car.
“We have faced such incidents in relation to this issue and we have taken correct precautions to ensure it doesn’t continue to occur,” he said.
“Our car sharing vehicles are in fact more difficult to steal due to the advanced technology and computers installed within the car.
“We place our vehicles where we believe they will be used and respected.”
Mr Welsh said Popcar also employed a rigid process to depict whether or not people were genuine users with an interest in the sharing economy system.
RACV Mobility general manager Elizabeth Kim said they would work with police in the event of a car share vehicle being stolen or damaged.
“Our fleet of vehicles are protected by a number of sophisticated technologies, which help to secure and protect the vehicles against theft or damage,” she said.
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A Flexicar spokeswoman said when a car was stolen they also worked with police to retrieve it, while GoGet spokesman Jonathan Englert said their co-operation with law enforcement had proven effective in the past.
Supt Woods said most car crime offenders were recidivists.
“Criminals generally look at the easiest way to commit a crime and we know they target vehicles that are left unlocked, on the street and easy to access,” he said.
Oyo did not respond to questions.
Anyone who discovers that a car sharing vehicle has been stolen should report it to police and the company that owns it.