Safe Speed Forums

Had my car broken into last night, right outside my house - mp3 player stolen, 3 atlases (why steal an atlas?!) and, most importantly, my Registration document.

So I rang the DVLA (didnt bother with police at this point as am aware not much they can do) who subsequently told me they'd charge me £25 for the replacement document because "you shouldn't leave that in your car" - hey, maybe they're right and it's not best practice but I keep it in the car with my insurance documents and drivers license incase any of it is ever needed whilst I'm out (if I were to be stopped due to Identity theft... for a brilliant example!) but I think it's a bit rich saying "you owe money because there are scum out there and you should know better than to think we would treat the victim of crime nicely"

Bloody pissed me off that did!
So I rang the police on DVLA advice incase they do try to re-register it - guy seemed ok, bit disinterested but understandable given what he does all day. Brought up the link between DVLA/Police if they try to re-register and what chances are of then getting to the address the re-registration is attempted to and it came across to me that this just wouldn't happen. Anyone aware of whether this could happen? Would they communicate with each other and be pro-active in going to the 'new' registered address of the vehicle?

It was parked right outside my house, alarm didnt go off they must know a way to get into the car without setting it off - is this possible on some makes (A3) of car? Even if i'd forgotten to lock it the car auto locks itself after a couple of minutes so wouldn't have been that. The only other option is that I didn't even shut the door myself which I'm bugging myself trying to think but it just doesn't seem likely at all - you always hear if it doesn't shut properly... right?

Anyway - of the whole thing what I hate most is that I've been asked "did you defintely lock the doors?" - even if I hadn't what bloody state has it gotten to where its my own fault that there is someone wondering along roads looking for unlocked cars so they can get into them and make off with someone elses possession? How has it become acceptable to try and place blame on the victim that these people are out there doing this every night?

While it's obvious that you are annoyed by this whole matter (and who wouldn't be) please bear in mind that insurance companies have an expectation that you will take all reasonable steps to look after your possessions and car. Some policies have specific exclusions if you leave the keys in etc.

I certainly never leave anything in the car overnight. Was your MP3 player visible?

Did you have a window broken? How did they get in?

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

I use a lockable box padlocked to a tie down loop in the boot to store documents that i may need for work related emergencies.

I had mine made locally but you can get something similar from Frost

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp? ... &subCatID=

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I am not a lawyer and can't give legal advice. I do have experience of the day to day working of courts and use that knowledge to help where possible. I do not represent any official body and post as an individual.

I like the Safe idea but I think in future I'll not take any documents along with me and when I do eventually need to produce documents to prove insurance/mot/ownership or something I'll tell them I dont have anything because the streets cant be kept safe enough to leave things out of sight in your car overnight and if I was to I'd be fined for doing so.

I'm calming down now cant you tell

The car was locked nothing was in sight, they went through every compartment, took even my coppers from the change box. Dunno how they got in but i'm quite concerned they did so without setting an alarm off. If i had forgotten to lock it the car is supposed to auto lock... 1) I'm worried maybe that isn't working 2) I'm worried the alarm isn't working... In a way I'm hoping I had simply not shut the door properly so at least I know it's safe(r) if I do shut it properly.

PS - This is the second time this has happened down my street, last time they smashed a window and ripped half my in-dash stereo out before being disturbed. I had to foot the bill for repairs and police complained I taped up the window, apparently I should've left it bare for the next 48 hours until they could get to me. Again last time I was told more fool me for forgetting to take the fascia of the stereo out the car - always the the victims fault as opposed to the person commiting the crime. It's like blaming a girl for getting raped because she looked too rapable.

Regarding your autolock feature - Are you sure it autolocks if you have been in the car? Any that i have seen only autolock if you unlock it but do not open the door. Otherwise you could have opened the door placed your keys on the drivers seat and went to kiss the mrs goodbye etc and they get locked in.

Absolutely correct! All my vehicles with this feature work this way.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

Don't just think that it's stuff inside vehicles that's getting nicked - firm's transit had CAT nicked last week - turns out that Ford have a backlog on Transit and Ranger CATs --possibly due to numbers getting replaced .
Could it be that foreign law has the answer - bit dificult to nick anything with no hands -but then we nee POLICE on the ground to catch the thieves .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

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I've forgotten to lock it before and its locked as i've walked away after having been in the vehicle, 100% certain - you're right about the scenario being a tricky one - dunno how it works exactly but it has done so before.

Also... you're taking the same attitude that got me pissed off this morning - lets focus on what the victim did wrong or forgot to do (only human after all) rather than just admit it's a piss take that the criminals arent dettered enough and that as a victim of crime I am the one who gets a fine / charge against me... does it not strike the rest of you as just plain wrong?

Well actually I wasn't - I was merely pointing out that the autolock feature may work like a lot of other cars on the market that have this feature.

However since you are doing a good job of "playing the victim"....



I dont beleive you have beeen fined for this incident (if you have accept my apologies) I think you have to replace a possession stolen from your vehicle. If you had to replace a passport or a magazine would you call that a fine too?



Are you implying that you now have to pay twice for the document?

It may well be wrong for someone to break into a car but i would also say it is stupid to not take precautions to stop it happening to your car when you know it happens. We do not live in a perfect world and must take some responsibility to protect ourselves and other people/things we hold dear.

You wouldn't entertain someone going on holiday to iraq then complaining about getting shot "not being right" would you?

fucking hell... what a load of old tosh.

Goodbye to all, you can't say anything on this forum anymore without everyone having to over analyse every aspect of what could have happened what might happen and every subsequent possible outcome.

I'm clearly pissed off at being robbed of posessions and just wanted to vent frustration at the complete lack of harmony in society and the injustice of basically being blamed for someone elses lack of decency and respect for others and i've got people telling me a whole load of bollocks as if I want to or need to hear them lecturing me.

1. If you bothered to read my post my stuff was out of sight - that IS a precaution
2. I've already been told "you shouldn't leave stuff in the car" - that doesn't excuse the fact being robbed is not in the slightest bit my own fault for goodness sake
3. Yes I do feel I've paid twice - I've got to pay to replace the stuff, I've been robbed and then I have to pay the authorities to send out a paper document via post... the whole process took about 20 seconds on the phone for them, yet it cost £25... it's bollocks and I stick by that. It does feel like a fine, yes.
4. Once again, enjoy yourselves on here - good luck with the campaign, I hope it picks up again soon it's a good and right cause which will help improve this country if successful.

/ toys out of pram, i dont care if it's a strop the response above is just utterly ridiculous

Posters above have only offered advice/suggestions/personal opinions because you have posted on a public forum. There are several constructive posts above that you seemed happy to simply dismiss and continue playing the victim.

Incidentally a quick check of the owners area shows that the current a3 will only lock the doors if a door has not been opened within 60 secs as suggested above (not sure how recent your a3 is). Do you really think professional thieves have disabled the alarm and opened the doors to steal some atlases and parking meter change?

Like many others on here I am an engineer - therefore you dont get sympathy but you do get analysis and advice.

Vent by all means but dont piss and moan at everyone when they are trying to help you.

Could be worse. Last time my car got broken into, the Police decided they wanted to take it into storage for further investigation, that cost me £125 recovery and £12 per night before I could get the damn thing back.