Due to rapid population growth, technological advancements and socio economic changes, we are now at a critical point in our lives where we get to experience all manners of crimes being committed with reckless abandon. One particular type of crime that is hard to ignore is car theft. Car theft has such a huge negative effect on humanity, negative effects that are truly alarming if we take a moment to really think about them.
By the time you get into it, you will begin to realize that car theft has a far reaching negative effect that goes beyond just the car owner alone. Car theft does not only affect individuals, it also affects insurance companies and even the economy of the country where it takes place. By now you are wondering what I mean? Not to worry, I will elucidate.
LET’S TALK ABOUT HOW IT AFFECTS INDIVIDUALS
Individuals whose cars get stolen suffer both financial and value loss. Financial loss in the sense that they get to lose the vehicle that cost millions of naira at the time of purchase and would now have to raise funds to replace the stolen vehicle, especially in situations where the vehicle owners did not have insurance.
Loss in value in the sense that they get to lose the vehicle that helps them keep a respectable status in their community, gets them to and fro work and general daily transportation.
HOW IT AFFECTS INSURANCE COMPANIES
Insurance companies are also victims in the sense that they get to experience increase in claims payout. The mathematics is simple, if an insurance company continues to experience progressive yearly surge in the number of claims they get to pay to vehicle owners who lost their cars to theft, then it will mean the insurance company will need to increase their car insurance premiums in order to stay afloat. And when insurance premiums are on the high, there will be decrease in the number of car insurance subscribers due to high cost. Decrease in the number of car insurance subscribers mean revenue loss for insurance companies due to low patronage.
I bet with this analysis, you can now see how insurance companies are also great victims of car thefts.
HOW IT AFFECTS COUNTRIES ECONOMICALLY
Now let us talk about how car theft affects nations economically. In case you do not know, car theft is a form of organized crime that makes it really easy for international syndicates to raise funds for their illicit drug trafficking, arms dealing and other coordinated criminal ventures. As you are well aware, drug trafficking, arms dealing and other crimes alike have negative and dangerous impacts on national security. Terrorism readily comes to mind.
On the other hand, the financial and human resources that security agencies pour into investigating and recovering stolen vehicles is immense. We are talking about funds and man-power that could have been put to better use. This no doubt puts a strain on security agencies and their purse.
Another way car theft affects a nation economically is that most stolen vehicles are often shipped overseas and this activity complicates international trade relations between the country where the car was stolen and the country where the stolen cars were shipped to.
LET US LOCALISE THE CAR THEFT CONVERSATION
Lagos state, Nigeria with its vibrant economy has a population of about 17 million people and an estimated registered 11.6 million vehicles as at the year 2020. The overwhelming vehicular and human presence on Lagos roads on a daily basis makes it easy to understand why the state is battling high rates of car theft and poor fleet management systems.
Car theft which is a major and common form of crime has experienced a surge and even smarter and darker modifications in Nigeria and Lagos in particular over the past decade. While the most popular car thefts are perpetrated through armed robbery on high ways, deserted roads, targeting public car parks or crowded events that has a large assemblage of cars and so on, today’s car thieves are much more advanced and are capable of unlocking car doors and duplicating car key codes through the use of sophisticated carjacking tools.
It is on record that Lagos state alone experiences an average of 3000 vehicle thefts per year. While it is true that majority of the stolen vehicles in Lagos and Nigeria as a whole don’t have GPS trackers installed in them and will most likely never be recovered as a result of this, half of the ones that had trackers installed in them too are usually never recovered.
Yes you read right. Having a car tracker installed in your vehicle does not guarantee that you would be able to recover your vehicle if it gets stolen. Lack of technical expertise and poor device quality on the part of car tracking companies is usually to blame when this happens. As a matter of fact, stolen car recovery rate in Nigeria is put at 30%. Disappointing statistics right? There are a number of reasons why we have such an abysmal car theft recovery rate in Nigeria and these reasons go beyond not having car trackers installed in your vehicle. I am certain you would be interested in finding out these reasons. Let’s talk about them.
- INACCURATE AND UNDEPENDABLE CENTRAL VEHICLE REGISTRATION SYSTEM
Our vehicle registration inventory system is highly flawed and so therefore unreliable. It might interest you to know that one of the disingenuous ways local car thieves are able to resell stolen vehicles to unsuspecting buyers is by compromising vehicle license officers and deliberately entering wrong vehicle chassis numbers of stolen vehicles at the point of registration. The usual trick is to fraudulently replace alphabet O with number 0, alphabet I with number 1. Apart from this, our vehicle licensing agencies do not have automated vehicle record updating system that allows newly registered vehicle information become available on their data base. These administrative shortcomings make it hard for our security forces to investigate stolen vehicles.
- OVER RELIANCE ON OBSOLETE CAR SECURITY DEVICES
At some point in this country, many car owners relied heavily on alarm, vehicle steering lock, pedal lock and other similar old forms of anti-theft devices for their vehicle security. These types of security devices used to be very popular in the mid nineties and early 2000’s. While its popularity has significantly waned, several hundred of thousands of vehicle owners in Nigeria still rely on them. In their own way, these devices could help prevent your car from being stolen if you are up against amateur car thieves. However, technological advancements and the sophistication of today’s modern carjackers have made this type of anti-theft devices super easy to compromise. Anyone who is still relying on steering locks and pedal locks in today’s world for the protection of their vehicles would find out soon enough that it is such a waste of time and resources.
- NOT HAVING A GPS CAR TRACKER INSTALLED
Lack of awareness on the part of vehicle owners on the importance of having a GPS tracker installed in their vehicles is something to be worried about. You will be surprised to know that only about 10% of the more than 11 million registered vehicles in Lagos have GPS trackers installed in them. Going by statistics, it will take an absolute miracle to be able to recover a stolen car that didn’t have a GPS tracker installed in it.
With the help of a GPS tracker, owners of stolen cars would be able to know the exact location of their vehicle and can also shut down the engine remotely.
- PATRONISING MEDIOCRE CAR TRACKING COMPANIES
There are lots of car tracking companies out there but the question is, how many of them have what it takes to give their customers top notch vehicle tracking service. Majority are so terrible at concealing the GPS tracker during installation, thereby making it very easy for car thieves to discover its hiding spot without stress and easy to disconnect.
Some car tracking companies do not even understand how important it is to ensure that their GPS tracking devices are of high quality, so that it doesn’t disappoint at the most critical times. Majority of car tracking companies do not have a 24 hours customer service department that can provide technical support to customers no matter the time of day.
A reliable car tracking company should have a vehicle recovery unit whose staff members are trained and well equipped to help their customers recover their stolen vehicles by leveraging on the diverse functionalities of the tracker and also collaborating with the police.
A good car tracking company should know how important it is to carry random regular system maintenance and check on their GPS trackers so that anomalies can be fixed immediately they occur.
In conclusion, it has become clear to even the blind that car theft cases are never going to end. Not with the current economic hardship in the country and the rate at which these criminals keep updating their evil skills. Vehicle owners must come to terms with the fact that their vehicle security affairs lay in their own hands.
This is why every vehicle owner looking at installing trackers in their vehicles must prioritize reliable, dependable, tested and trusted car tracking companies like www.cartrackernigeria.ng for the handling of their car security, fleet management and general vehicle tracking needs.
Contracting the right car tracking company for your vehicle tracking needs will guarantee you peace of mind and an assurance of real-time control over your automobile assets.
On a parting note, if you do not yet have a car tracker installed in your vehicle, contact cartrackernigeria.ng today. Delay might be perilous.