Vehicle crime soars by a third in just three years
THE West Midlands suffered the second highest number of vehicle thefts in England and Wales last year as car crime soared by almost a third in just three years, new figures show.
The RAC, which obtained the data through Freedom of Information requests, believes thieves are bypassing modern vehicle security systems.
Responses from 40 forces revealed 85,688 vehicles were stolen last year, up 30 per cent from 65,783 in 2013.
In the West Midlands, there were 5,930 car thefts last year, up 43 per cent from 4,161 in 2013.
Police in Warwickshire reported the largest percentage increase in stolen vehicles from 2013 to 2016, up 189 per cent - though the figure was a relatively small 275. Staffordshire Police dealt with 1,180 car thefts while West Mercia Police had just 368.
RAC insurance director Mark Godfrey said this rise reversed a general trend of vehicle thefts decreasing since around 2002.
“We fear thieves are now becoming more and more well equipped with tech- nology capable of defeating car manufacturers’ anti-theft systems,” he said.
“This is bad news for motorists as it has the effect of causing insurance premiums to rise at a time when they are already being pushed up by a variety of factors, not least the recent change to the discount rate for life-changing personal injury compensation claims and the rises in insurance premium tax.”