Don’t do this!
If you have a car you just don’t want any more but dread the process of selling it, Atlanta Police Department interim chief has a good tip for how you can get it stolen. All you need to do is leave the car running and some criminal will gladly take it off your hands. That might sound absolutely stupid, but it’s amazing how many people don’t know this trick.
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We’ve seen reports of these kinds of vehicle thefts constantly for years. With the popularity of keyless ignitions, it’s like drivers feel even more confident about leaving their engine idling while they run inside someone, as if someone can’t break in and just drive away.
The chief noted this phenomena is most common at restaurants and dry cleaners. Drivers seemingly don’t want to shut off the air conditioning while they run inside, preferring instead to keep their vehicle interior cool while they just grab a coffee or pick up their suit. That’s all the time a thief with a glass break needs to get inside the vehicle and drive off. In some instances, the doors are unlocked, so they don’t even need to break in.
Just how common is if for thieves to steal cars left running? In Atlanta, it apparently constitutes well over half of all car thefts in Atlanta. Yes, people are just that dumb. We’ve seen this trend rage in other cities, including food delivery drivers leaving their vehicle running while they run up to a door, the thieves lying in wait to jump in and take off while the owner is too far away to stop them.
You could say this is an excellent example of technology making people dumber. Sure, some would leave their car running before keyless ignition became a thing, but now it’s like an epidemic of stupidity.
Images via BMW, GM
