Car Number Plate Theft / Registration Plate Theft

Car Number Plate Theft / Registration Plate Theft Thursday 20th September 2007 Beating the Car Number Plate Thieves! Car Number Plate Theft / Registration Plate Theft Beating the Car Number Plate Thieves! Car number plate / Registration Plate theft is a growing and worrying problem, with vans and other commercial vehicles also targets. Latest statistics show that there are currently over 40,000 sets of registration plates being stolen every year. ...it takes just a few seconds to unscrew the plates held on with conventional screws, and thieves often carry out this simple crime in places like supermarket car parks, while you are buying a lunchtime sandwich or doing your weekly shop. If your number plates were stolen, you can be sure that they will be put onto another vehicle ..and as many victims have discovered, life can then become a nightmare, when they suddenly find themselves faced with unwelcome and unearned fines and prosecutions for a whole raft of vehicle related crimes, ranging from speeding fines and parking tickets to congestion charges. Here are just a few of the things that thieves use stolen number plates for; - 90% of "drive offs" from petrol stations involve vehicles using false or stolen plates - avoiding congestion charges and parking tickets / fines - avoiding speed camera fines (which could now cost you up to 6 points plus £1,000) - drug dealing, bank robbery, etc ...and remember, as far as the law is concerned, your car registration number "is You" ...if there are any incidents involving your vehicle (identified by your number plate), you have to prove that it was not you - in other words, you are guilty until you can prove you are innocent! One of the factors fuelling the rise in car number plate theft, is the tighter control of the issue of new or replacement number plates via authorised dealers, however, as well as the physical theft of number plates, Number Plate Cloning has become another worrying trend, which can result in the same problems for the victim. The Police have recently spoken out strongly about the inadequacy of the current vehicle licensing system and are calling for urgent change, in the meanwhile it is up to vehicle owners to do what they can to protect themselves. Many Police forces are currently offering free number plate security screws to the public - your local crime prevention officer, crime reduction officer or community support officer should be able to help if your local police force are operating such a service. Alternatively a number plate security screw pack is available from Insight Security (tel: 01273 475500 ) for a modest fee. http://www.insight-security.com/ Number plate protection options; Using Security Screws - the simplest way to protect your car number plates against unauthorised removal, is to replace the existing screws holding the plates in position, with one way security screws. These screws are a straight replacement for the existing conventional number plate screws, and can be inserted using a normal flat blade screwdriver, so you won't need to invest in special tools. The security screw is cleverly designed with a drive face only, so its simple to do up, but if you try to undo it, the screwdriver simply slips off the screw head. If your number plates are stuck on rather than screwed on, this may not be a practical solution - however your local vehicle dealer should be able to advise you whether it is feasible to use screw fixing in addition to the existing adhesive fixing. Using specialist security number plates For those prepared to invest a little more in number plate security (£100 or so upwards), specially designed fragmenting number plates, or the new e-plates offer a good alternative see: www.e-plate.com This message was added on Thursday 20th September 2007

For more information on Car Number Plate Theft / Registration Plate Theft talk to Insight Security