Motor Vehicles: Crime Prevention (Hansard, 24 November 1993)

§ Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish
My Lords, the Home Office is continuing with its car crime prevention campaign during 1993 to build on the progress which was made last year. We are also continuing to press for further improvements in the security both of new cars and of those which are already on the road.

Lord Campbell of Croy
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that encouraging Answer. As horrifying reports continue in the press of death and injury caused by drivers of stolen cars, will the Government do what they can to accelerate the introduction of the methods which are now available for tracking a car from the moment that it is stolen? The most effective deterrent is a greatly increased likelihood of being caught.

§ Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish
My Lords, as my noble friend Lord Ferrers said in a reply to a similar Question from my noble friend in October, concealed tracking devices are, indeed, a valuable weapon against car theft. All mainland United Kingdom police forces are currently making use of that new technology and the companies involved are now beginning to market those devices fairly robustly to motorists in this country.

The Viscount of Falkland
My Lords, will the noble Lord accept from me, as chairman of the Motor Cycle Industry Theft Action Group, that there has been a significant and encouraging drop recently of about 5 per cent. in the number of thefts of motor cycles and that although that is largely due to the application of new technology, it is due more importantly to owners' awareness of the need to lock up their motor cycles with primary and secondary devices? They are doing that except, strangely enough, the owners of Lambrettas, Vespas and small motor cycles who, for some reason, cannot get it into their minds that those small vehicles are very easy to steal and that they really must lock them up.

§ Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish
My Lords, the noble Viscount underlines one of the important aspects of the car theft prevention campaign last year and this year; namely, to increase the awareness of vehicle owners of the need to look after their vehicles properly, to lock them and to install security devices. I am delighted to hear from the noble Viscount that motor 254 cycle thefts are down. I should like to be able to say that car thefts are equally down, but the best that I can do is to say that the increase has certainly been markedly less in the past 12 months than it was in the previous 12 months.

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, the noble Lord has answered my first question because I was going to ask what he meant by "progress" and I feared that the answer would be that the increase was down rather than that car thefts were down. In view of the fact that a very high proportion of car thefts are from locked cars and by teenagers, can the noble Lord tell the House what progress is being made in motor projects that are designed to encourage young people to lawful activities with motor cars because experience shows—does it not?—that those are very effective in preventing car crime?

§ Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish
My Lords, the noble Lord has asked me a number of questions. The progress that we made last year was monitored and we discovered that two-thirds of the people surveyed said that as a result of the campaign they were more vigilant about security. The sale of security equipment increased by 20 per cent. and more manufacturers are now building improved security systems into their new cars. All that is very important. As far as motor schemes are concerned, I can tell the noble Lord that last year the Home Office gave grants of £450,000 to such schemes which, as the noble Lord points out, are helpful in encouraging youngsters not to indulge in that kind of crime.

§ Lord Ezra
My Lords, while locking up vehicles, as was suggested by my noble friend, may be a very good precept, is it not a fact that many owners of motor cars are misled by thinking that their security systems are more efficacious than they really are? I live in central London and keep on being woken up by security systems, and I am quite sure that potential or actual thieves are not put off in the least. Therefore, can the noble Lord assure the House that the proposal put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Campbell of Croy, in his supplementary question will be vigorously pursued?

§ Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish
My Lords, I noticed that the noble Lord asked a similar question on the last occasion that this matter was raised. He makes the point that if too many car alarms go off pointlessly it is the equivalent of crying wolf. However, I do believe that car alarms are a useful deterrent although obviously not an entirely 100 per cent. deterrent. There is, however, no question but that when someone is looking for a car to steal (unless it is a classic car that is being stolen to order) a car without an alarm device is more likely to be picked than a car with one.

§ Viscount Mountgarret
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that many insurance companies now require owners to have adequate security devices fitted to their motor cars? Could not that be encouraged in the insurance industry so that it is made more difficult for people to insure cars without such devices? Is he further aware that I have just bought a motor car myself which 255 has the most amazing number of gadgets and that I find extreme difficulty in getting into the thing, but no doubt I shall learn?

§ Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish
My Lords, making it more difficult for owners to get into their cars is not part and parcel of our road safety campaign. My noble friend made the valid point that the insurance industry has a key role to play in encouraging the use of security devices, including those raised initially by my noble friend. I am happy to say that the industry is establishing its own criteria for vehicle security which identify cars and security equipment and which meet its acceptable standards. I hope that that will give the insurance companies the confidence to consider offering discounts to motorists who install those devices.

Lord Campbell of Croy
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that often cars are stolen to be used in crimes; for example, as getaway cars or in ram raids? Real progress made in the area that we are discussing might in addition reduce those crimes.

§ Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish
My Lords, my noble friend is right. If a car is stolen to be used in a crime and if the device is activated the police would be greatly assisted in tracking down that car, perhaps even before the crime is committed. There is, of course, one slight problem. Before the device can be triggered the owner must know that the car has been stolen. Therefore, the device is not so useful in apprehending a stolen car as my noble friend suggested.