Car renters lack awareness of break-in crisis
Candice Cain flew from New York to San Francisco late last month for a two-day business trip that soon became potential fodder for one of the comedies she writes for movies and TV.
Somebody smashed the window of the Chevrolet Cruze she’d rented at San Francisco International Airport, but by a stroke of luck, she’d already taken her luggage to her hotel room in Burlingame. Still, it was an inconvenience to have to drive the car back to the rental company to get a different one.
That short drive proved worthy of a slapstick comedy when a “pterodactyl-sized seagull” flew in through the shattered window. She made it to the airport with the bird staring at her in her rear-view mirror. She told the incredulous woman staffing the rental car desk the stowaway gull was now her problem, and decided she would never return to the Bay Area.
“I’m done,” she told me. “I’m just not a fan.”
I asked her if the company had informed her, as required by San Francisco law, of the region’s car break-in epidemic.
“They didn’t tell me about it!” she said adamantly. When I told her there were 31,322 car break-ins reported to police in San Francisco alone last year, plus thousands more around the region, she had a succinct response: “Holy crap!”
I’ve heard from several disgruntled visitors whose cars were broken into and who had no idea the break-in problem existed, let alone that it was so severe. None of them recalled being informed by rental car companies.
In truth, Cain and other car renters probably were notified; but the law passed unanimously by the Board of Supervisors in September, and heralded as some big answer to the crisis, leaves a lot to be desired.
It requires rental car companies to give patrons a written disclosure reading, “Prevent theft: Remove valuables from the rental car and lock the doors.” The same disclosure is required on the key ring or in the glove compartment of the car, as well as posted somewhere at the rental location.
It may sound sufficient, but think of all the paperwork you get when you rent a car and how much signage you see. How likely are you to read each word? Maybe it’s just me, but one milquetoast sentence amid all that text isn’t going to register at all.
The wording gives no indication of the severity of the crisis, and the legislation requires no oral warning. I’d be far more likely to pay attention if the person behind the counter stared me in the eye like that seagull stared at Cain and said, “No, seriously, this epidemic is out-of-control. Do not leave anything in your car — ever!”
It also requires no communication in any language other than English, which is obviously a problem at an international airport. I guarantee you the Chinese tourist I wrote about who had his passport, Chinese identification and cash stolen from his rental car on Lombard Street in late January did not get the message that car break-ins are a big problem.
Neither did Marissa Castelli, the Olympic ice skater whose skates and costumes were stolen from her family’s rental car in Japantown in January. On Monday, she said she doesn’t think her family received a warning, nor did they see warning signs where they parked.
“I don’t really know exactly what you guys could do to prevent it because obviously the problem is huge, but maybe just a little more knowledge about the car theft situation, especially around the airport or tourist areas in the city,” she
“I think the biggest challenge is people don’t believe there are any consequences to getting caught.” London Breed, Board of Supervisors president
said.
Her stolen skates and dresses were recovered though; she received them from the San Francisco Police Department, and, shockingly, they were in good condition. Hey, in the world of San Francisco car break-ins, you’ve got to get the good news where you can.
The warning legislation passed in September was backed by Supervisor London Breed, who is running for mayor and touts it on her website. On Monday, she said she’d want to see data about which companies are telling their customers what before proposing changes to the law.
She also added that the break-in epidemic won’t be solved by any single piece of legislation, and that she’s working with the city attorney’s office on a possible new program to target repeat offenders in civil court, since it’s proving so difficult to prosecute them in criminal court. In 2014, she helped create a similar program for repeat graffiti offenders.
“There’s no one thing you can do to help address this issue, but I think the biggest challenge is people don’t believe there are any consequences to getting caught,” Breed said. “I do think it’s important to hit people where it matters and that is in the pocketbooks.”
Sharky Laguana, who owns the rental car company Bandago, was part of the negotiations with Breed to craft the rental car warning legislation.
He said he’s not convinced the notices “do anything at all.” People often tune out warning messages or simply can’t avoid leaving items in their car for whatever reason, he said. Besides, plenty of cars, like Cain’s, are broken into even if there’s nothing valuable inside.
He said he’s open to changes in the law.
“If there’s anything we can do to help solve this problem, we’ll do it,” he said. “When there’s a crisis, you throw everything and the kitchen sink at it.”
Doug Yakel, spokesman for SFO, said rental car companies began issuing warning notices before Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara two years ago and have continued to do so following September’s legislation. He said the airport isn’t involved in enforcement of the law, but does try to “reinforce the importance of the messaging with rental car companies.”
Mark Hill, a businessman from New York, travels to the Bay Area regularly and said he doesn’t remember ever receiving a warning while renting a car. Late last year, he rented an SUV and drove straight to the Shops at Tanforan in San Bruno for lunch. He returned to the car to find his windows smashed and his laptop and iPad gone.
He said he’s been traveling around the country on business since the 1980s and has experienced no car break-ins anywhere else.
“I know it is a difficult crime to prevent and even harder to solve,” he said. “However, as it continues, the Bay Area will become renowned for something other than Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.”
Sadly, I think that day has already come.