Will you be a car-jacking victim?
By the Library Committee
Do you drive a
* Chevrolet truck
* Ford truck
* Oldsmobile Cutlass
* Chevrolet Caprice
* GMC truck
* Chevrolet Cavalier
* Dodge truck
* Buick LeSabre
* Buick Regal
* Oldsmobile Delta 88
There were the ten most frequently stolen vehicles in Illinois in 1996.
Every 20 seconds a car is stole, and most carjackings happen in only about 15 seconds. According to the FBI, the primary motives are to get transportation after robbing drivers or to get transportation to commit a crime.
In Illinois alone there were 62,276 motor vehicle thefts in 1995, according to the Illinois Statistical Abstract.
Even though many cars are taken from city streets, residential driveways, car dealers and gas stations, the favorite areas are parking lots.
Did you know that most carjackings take place between 8 and 11 p.m., and that almost half happen on Friday, Saturday and Sunday? December is the worst month (27 percent).
Although the Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Act passed in 1991 has helped cut down on vehicle thefts by more than 22 percent, saving Illinois vehicle owners $85 million, there are some things auto owners can do to lessen the threat.
These include the installation of anti-theft devices, locking car doors, rolling up windows, locking valuables in the trunk, and parking in well-lit areas.
For more information on carjacking, check out these web sites: www.icjia.org/mvtp/smart.htm and www.allstate.com/newspaper/index/index2.htm.
For the most recent published statistics, see the Statistical Abstract of the United States and the Illinois Statistical Abstract in the reference section of Jacobs Library.
(This feature was prepared by a committee in IVCC’s Jacobs Library.)
1/28/99 the Apache