Surge in vehicle crime across South Australia in 2019 as thieves target keys

Don’t leave your keys lying around – seven in 10 stolen cars are taken along with the keys. The statistic has emerged along with a rising number of vehicle thefts in SA.

The state’s rising vehicle crime was more than twice the national average of 9 per cent .

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Vehicle thefts across South Australia have increased at a higher rate than anywhere across the mainland in the past year.

National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council figures show the number of vehicles stolen across SA increased 19.7 per cent, from 3078 in 2018 to 3684 in 2019.

The state’s rising vehicle crime was more than twice the national average of 9 per cent and second only to Tasmania, which recorded a 27.4 per cent increase in thefts.

National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council chief executive Geoff Hughes told The Advertiser that Australia was “definitely in a period of increasing vehicle crime”.

“People need to make sure they don’t leave their keys lying around in clear view because seven in 10 cars are stolen with their own keys, and more than half of those are from a residential property,” Mr Hughes said.

The SA motor vehicle theft figures for 2019, compared with 2018, also show:

PROFIT-MOTIVATED thefts increased 44.1 per cent.

SHORT-TERM thefts increased 10.3 per cent.

ADELAIDE City Council area thefts increased 76.6 per cent.

Short-term thefts involve vehicles stolen and later recovered, while those pinched for profit are not retrieved.

Mr Hughes said that, over the past decade, the proportion of cars recovered within seven days had dropped from 85 per cent to 67 per cent.

He said there had been a substantial increase in motorcycle thefts, which last year increased 48.1 per cent in SA – the highest across the nation.

SA vehicle thefts in 2019.

“The large proportion of these bikes are likely to be off-road bikes or farm bikes that aren’t required to be registered, so the chances of ever recovering them are likely to be low,” he said.

SA thieves stole the highest number of vehicles (174) between 4pm and 7.59pm on Friday. It was also the day of the week that resulted in the most thefts overall (614).

RAA insurance spokesman Shaun Ryan said vehicle theft was a major inconvenience and urged owners to give crooks as little opportunity as possible.

He said the RAA recommended parking vehicles in a garage or carport if possible and installing sensor lights in driveways to deter thieves.

“Even vehicles with the highest level of security are still at risk of being stolen, so make it hard for thieves to access your house and steal the car keys,’’ Mr Ryan said.

“If you must park on the road, leave your car in a well-lit area and always lock your vehicle even if you’re only leaving it for a couple of minutes.

“You should also remove items of value from sight but don’t put them in the boot as most are easy to break into.”

Originally published as Surge in vehicle crime across South Australia in 2019 as thieves target keys