Improving the security of cars with the help of GPS

If a car is particularly expensive or easy on the eye, it might be an even more high priority target for criminals. Many of the high end vehicles are being stolen on order by organised crime gangs and it has almost become a necessity to fit a tracker to their vehicles for vehicle owners.

According to statistics, car theft has gone up drastically over the last six years in the UK. Especially the owners of luxurious brands fell victim to the massive increase in vehicle crime such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW. While keyless theft is also rampaging through the country, it is not all bad news for the vehicle owners.

Tech companies and security firms have been working tirelessly to develop new solutions to protect cars against keyless crime and the regular vehicle theft. Vehicle tracking devices are the most effective solution against criminals and simply installing a vehicle tracker to a car makes it much safer against theft. That’s why drivers have been investing in GPS tracking systems to prevent thieves from breaking into your vehicle and drive away with it.

GPS tracking technology has advanced significantly with the help of tech companies over the decades. Originally, only used by massive fleet corporations to keep track of their vehicles, GPS tracking systems are now available for all types of vehicles with affordable options. These tiny devices use a beacon that can be located by using the GPS satellites.

If a vehicle is stolen, the owner can immediately start tracking its location in real time and report the situation to the police. Vehicle owners have an increased chance of recovering their vehicle in one piece with a tracking device onboard.

Tracking devices are armed with the most effective security measures on the market such as sensitive sensors, geofence zones, real time tracking and remote immobilisation.

There are usually two types of car theft; crimes of opportunity and planned theft. Criminals are always on the lookout for easy pickings and drivers tend to provide them with ample opportunities. Almost all drivers have certain habits of leaving a vehicle unprotected such as leaving the keys in the ignition for short stops or leaving the car unlocked when its parked outside their house.

It is like helping a thief to steal your car and thieves never miss these opportunities. For this reason, protecting a car starts with using common sense and adopting safer habits to make sure you don’t provide the thieves a window for theft. A few good starting points would be to always lock your car doors, make sure you leave nothing valuable out in the open and never leave your keys in the ignition.

Planned theft usually consists of several stages; from the initial scoping out of a vehicle to learning its defences and finally determining the right time to make the attempt. Normally, car owners have very little to do to prevent an experienced and skilled thief to steal their car but a vehicle tracking device can turn the tables on these adept criminals.

First of all, these small gadgets are equipped with extremely sensitive sensors that can detect the slightest movement or tampering. When activated, these sensors trigger a response if the car is tampered in any way and send an instant notification to the owner. This gives vehicle owners the chance to intervene a theft attempt or alert the police to catch the thieves red-handed.

Geofence zone feature is another prominent tool that can be used as an early warning system by the vehicle owners. A geofence zone is basically a virtual perimeter around a specific location on the map. It can be configured to send alerts every time the tracking device enters or leaves one of the preset zones.

Vehicle owners can enlist the services of geofence zone feature to create safe zones around their house, company parking lot or any location they frequently park their vehicle. With an active geofence zone, no thief can steal a car without sending an alert to its owner and getting into trouble with the cops.

Sometimes, all the security measures in the world won’t be enough against a determined thief. These criminals can work their way around the car’s defences with their experience, break into your vehicle and manage to get away with it. Normally, it takes months to even receive an update from the police about a car and most of the stolen cars are never recovered.

Vehicle tracking devices offer various ways to stop a thief on the run with your vehicle. Remote immobilisation allows the ignition system to be blocked remotely and shut down the engine. The immobilised engine won’t start without the owner’s authorisation leaving the thief with no option to leave the car and run away.

Drivers can also track the exact location of the vehicle with their smartphone using the mobile APP, inform the local law enforcement officers and have them safely return the vehicle.

Vehicle theft may be on the rise all over the world but vehicle security technologies keep up with the rising crime wave and offer the drivers a chance to fight the criminals. Experts recommend the car owners to fortify their defences with several anti-theft devices such as steering wheel locks, kill switches and high-end car alarms.

However, with the sophisticated tools and the additional peace of mind they provide, vehicle tracking systems are the most effective security system with no match on the market.