Idling Vehicle Theft

At first I thought I was crazy but I checked my figures again. It still didn't look right so I re-examined my raw data and started from the beginning. Although the results were different the second time, the order of magnitude of the results was exactly the same.

I completed some research and found numerous articles all over the U.S. and Canada stating the same thing.

An idling vehicle provides a great temptation to thieves.

Now it's time to be honest. Everyone has left their vehicle idling at least once in their lifetime. For most people, it has been more than once, right? It's easy and tempting to leave the car idling to run into the convenience store for only a minute or two. It's common practise for many to leave their car idling in the driveway to either warm it up in the winter or cool the interior in the summer.

During my daily walks, I continually observe idling vehicles without a driver or a passenger. On average, two vehicles per week are observed in this state. My first impression was that it doesn't seem to be a really big problem, so I did the math.

2 idling vehicles observed per week during 2 hours of walking.

Assume 12 hours of potential idling time per day and multiply by 7 days in the week. This gives 84 potential idling hours per week. Divide this number by 2 and the result is 42 potential vehicles per week idling on my walk route which consists of 400 houses and 5.6 linear kilometres of distance. Assume 2 drivers (cars) per house. This gives 800 potential drivers (cars) in my walk route.

Therefore there are 42 potential idling vehicles per 800 drivers in the Province of Ontario per week.

The Population of Ontario is 13,210,667.

Therefore there are 693,559 potential idling vehicles (without a driver) in Ontario per week.

Of course this study is neither scientific nor based on real facts. My math is correct but its possible that my assumptions are not.

I would welcome a real study to prove me wrong. Perhaps the real problem is one tenth what I suggested. If this is the case then the problem is still outrageously large.

Some real statistics indicate that 30% of vehicles stolen are right in the owner's driveway. It is plausible that these numbers are in fact higher as most car owners would deny that they left their car running when it was stolen.

The answer is obvious. Don't leave the vehicle idling. What's not clear is why the vehicle theft rate is not higher? It would seem that the opportunity for vehicle theft is overly abundant everywhere. Could it be that there isn't enough car thieves available to cause a spike in the reported data?

In countries like South Africa, crime runs rampant. Vehicle theft is considered a real threat and is a serious problem. Consequently, approved multi circuit immobilizers are mandated on all vehicles and are considered the best defence against theft. North America needs to follow this lead if it is to keep vehicle theft under control.

We don't have to re invent the wheel when South Africa has already instituted an easily copied solution which is currently available to everyone in North America.

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