Satellite navigation systems may be a godsend to people who have to drive a lot, but they can also be a bit of a nightmare as they are worth a considerable amount and therefore quite appealing to thieves. Remember a time when we had to make our journeys without them? Maps were the norm, and for the most of us it meant getting lost a great deal more! If you take what your GPS says with a pinch of salt it makes the whole process much easier though. Drivers in Manchester have experienced this theft first hand, as thieves are increasingly targeting occupied cars for these systems.
Greater Manchester police have revealed that there have been thirteen incidents across the city where people have fallen prey to this theft when they were stationary, waiting for the road lights to change.
They are urging that if you are using one of the computers, that you place them in the centre of your windscreen as opposed to to the left of the driver, where it is easy to open the door and snatch the device. They also recommend that if you stop in a built up area like a city at lights or a crossing then you ensure your doors are locked, just in case of an opportunist thief on the prowl.
They have also urged that drivers take care to stash their systems out of eyesight when they are not in the car, and carry a cloth to wipe the inside of the windscreen so that no suction mark is left from the devices used to attach the sat nav to the windscreen.
This follows recent research from Autoglass, which found that 14 per cent of drivers have had their cars broken into over an eighteen month period, and forty one percent reported a loss of gadgets like sat navs, ipods and other music playing technology.
Motorists should make sure that they are fully prepared from this time of criminal activity by having Car Insurance.Compare policies online to find the best deal and save yourself money for in case your sat nav is stolen!
