by Playfuls Staff |
2nd August 2006
European insurance agencies are reporting a steady downturn in car thefts during the past 12 years in line with improved electronic protection devices but even the most sophisticated alarm systems are no match for professional gangsters. [more]
A satellite monitoring system, however is proving to be most effective and is fast becoming standard in the upper luxury market segment.
"With the help of a GPS transmitter in the vehicle that keeps in touch with its base or with the software in the office the entire route of the car and its position can be monitored in real time," says Jutta Monden, spokeswoman of the car parts supplier Siemens VDO.
The system can also be programmed to monitor valuable truck loads, triggering an alarm as soon as a truck leaves a specified route without the driver having logged off.
The Bjoern Steiger Foundation is offering a similar GPS tracking system for cars. A so-called black box is hidden in the car with a GPS receiver and transmitter that is permanently active, even if the ignition is switched off or the car battery is removed, according to managing director Pierre Steiger.
If the vehicle is stolen the owner can log onto an internet site with a code to see where his/her car is positioned.
"With such information police can track a car worldwide and take respective measures," according to Steiger whose company charges an annual fee of 30 euros (38 dollars) for the service.
A Canadian company, Imetrik, takes the system one step further. Apart from tracking the vehicle the car is automatically stopped.
"If the car is stolen the owner can track the position on the internet and send a pulse that stops the car," according to the European sales manager of the firm, Wolfgang Steinhardt, in Berlin.
As soon as the ignition is turned off the electronics prevent the car from being started again. The gangsters are therefore not stopped somewhere on the motorway but for instance at a filling station. The Imetrik service costs 295 euros plus installation costs and one euro for position tracking plus 1.50 euros for stopping the car.
But Arnulf Volkmar Thiemel of Germany's automobile association (ADAC) says that although anti-theft technology has come a long way there is no perfect protection, "especially if you are dealing with professional car gangsters who are out to steal a specific vehicle model".
Professional thieves see on small details how the car is protected. Mechanical anti-theft devices like the steering wheel lock that hooks up the steering wheel with the pedals is at most a deterrent for petty thieves.
"The professionals are not scared off and take the car even with a broken steering wheel and damaged handbrake," Thiemel warns.
By Thomas Geiger
© 2006 DPA
