The act of smash and grab is sudden. The perpetrator quickly smashes your car window and grabs your stuff on the car seats or from any other easily and quickly accessible place and quickly makes a getaway. This can happen when parked in a public place or at an intersection or at traffic lights.
These are some tips to help you to minimise the risk of thieves smashing the windows of your motor vehicle and grabbing your valuables.
- Remove all valuables from the seats and put them away where they cannot be seen or accessed easily.
- It is advisable to store valuables in the boot of the vehicle.
- Keep the windows closed, especially, at night.
- Keep your doors locked. Most vehicles, nowadays, have central locking. If the central locking is faulty, have it repaired. If your vehicle does not have central locking, have one fitted. Thieves can easily open the door and grab valuables.
- Invest in anti smash and grab tint on your motor vehicle windows.
- Do not struggle or resist as you might get injured or harmed and with broken glass involved it is certainly not advisable.
- When you are approaching traffic lights at night, it is usually best to note the color of the traffic lights and to adjust speed so that you approach the traffic lights slowly. Time to arrive when the traffic lights give the greenlight to pass through.
- When you are parked at the traffic lights, be aware of your surroundings and watch for suspicious movements on the outside and possibly alert others or scare away the would be thief by hooting.
- Do not park in poorly lighted areas at night.
- Do not park where you are isolated.
- Do not sleep in the car as that might put you at risk of being robbed.
