Tips To Avoid A Carjacking While Abroad

Carjacking is when a criminal robs a victim of his/her vehicle. Many thieves will sell the car to chop shops.

Chop shops are locations where car thieves remove all identification numbers, also known as VIN (vehicle identification numbers), from the vehicle, replace it with false VIN numbers, and resale the stolen vehicle for profit.

Other criminals, mostly young ones, will steal the vehicle and go for a joy ride. This sounds crazy that kids would do this for fun but they do. They get a thrill out of a carjack. Later they may abandon it in a secluded location or drive it into a body of water in order to hide it from the police.

This crime can be very dangerous crime at times. There have been many reported cases where female victims were carjacked and the criminal failed to realize that a baby was in the backseat.

So if you are an expat abroad or a traveler with a rental car you should follow these tips to avoid being carjacked.

1) Keep your doors locked and windows up while driving.

2) Avoid driving through risky or high crime areas. Plan your routes accordingly.

3) When driving in risky areas try to drive in the middle of the road. Of course, you have to avoid crashing with other cars; however, you want to avoid the opportunity for a criminal to pin your vehicle against a curb at a traffic signal or stop sign.

4) Have your keys in hand and ready when approaching your car in parking lots. This way you are ready to quickly unlock your vehicle doors, quickly get inside, and lock the vehicle before doing anything else. Many car thieves will frequent parking lots at grocery stores and malls to attack people who are distracted and carrying many bags.

5) If you have to pull to the side of the road because of mechanical problems, be wary of people stopping to help you. If someone does stop to help you should roll down to the window only about an inch and ask the person to call the police for you.

6) Lastly, if an armed criminal wants your car, give it up. Your car can be replaced, your life can not.

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