07/02/2003 -- One in Four Leave Vehicles Open

One in Four Drivers Leave Vehicles Open, Study Says

July 2, 2003 -- One in four drivers across the nation admit to not always locking their car doors, and more than a third said they routinely leave their vehicle running unattended to let the motor warm up or to run a quick errand, a new survey says.
The poll of 930 drivers showed that 43 percent of those surveyed said they have no way of stopping someone from stealing their vehicle because it's not equipped with an anti-theft system, such as an alarm, steering-wheel lock or tracking device.

The survey was conducted by an independent research company and funded by the LoJack Corp., which manufactures a radio device that is hidden in cars so cops can track them down once they are stolen.

"That is precisely why people need to apply more common sense to protect their vehicles," said Donna Driscoll, vice president of marketing for LoJack.

The poll comes on the heels of an FBI report released last week showing that auto theft is up an average of 1.2 percent across the country, a figure that has been steadily rising over the last three years. Nationally, FBI statistics show that auto theft is down 0.9 percent in cities with a population of more than 1 million