Safety Tips
Preventing Car-Jacking Safety Tips
Before you enter your car:
- Be alert to any activity near your car.
- When approaching your car, have your keys in hand and check the interior and around the car before you get in.
- If someone is loitering near your unoccupied car as you approach it, keep walking until the person leaves.
- Be wary of people asking for directions or handing our flyers. Trust your instincts- if something makes you feel uneasy, get into your car quickly, lock the doors, and drive away.
- Keep doors and windows locked, no matter how short the distance or how "safe" the neighborhood.
- Use extra precaution driving alone. Although it may not be possible at all times, but have someone with you, especially at night.
- When you are coming to a stop, leave enough space to maneuver around other cars. If you sense trouble, this will allow you the room needed to get away.
- If a suspicious looking person approaches your car, drive away carefully. In extreme situations, you might even consider going through a traffic light, as long as you can do so without causing an accident.
- Drive in the inside (center) lane to make it more difficult for the would-be carjackers to approach your car.
- Do not stop to assist a stranger whose car has broken down. Instead, help by using your cell phone and calling the police to help them.
- If you are driving home and notice someone you don't recognize, drive around the block and come back after the person has left of if they haven't left, notify the police.
- Park in well-lighted areas, near sidewalks or walkways. Avoid parking near dumpsters, woods, large vans or trucks, or anything else that limits your visibility.
- Never leave valuables in plain view, even if the car is locked. Put them in the trunk or somewhere out of site.
- Try to park in a garage where there is an attendant. Use valet parking if available.
- Even if you are rushed, look around before you get out and stay alert to your surroundings.
- Don't Resist!!! If a carjacker threatens you with a gun or other weapon, give up your car. Don't argue. Your live is more important than a car.
- If a carjacker tries to get you to go with them resist and refuse because your chances of survival diminish greatly when you go with them.
- Get away from the area as quickly as possible.
- Notice and remember what the carjacker looked like - sex, race, hair and eye color, special features, clothing and anything specific or unusual like an accent.
- Report the crime immediately to the police.
