Site shows car crime hotspots to steer clear of
AS lockdown restrictions begin to ease and places start to reopen again, it’s likely that we will be using our cars more.
But where will it be safest to park in, for example, Swansea?
A tool created by Co-op Insurance displays the number of vehicle crimes in a given area. Users can enter a location or postcode anywhere in Wales or England to see the number of crimes which have occurred there.
The aim is to make people more aware of the location in which they choose to park their car.
Co-op Insurance’s Park Smart tool uses data from July 2020 to December 2020, published by the Home Office, to display the number of vehicle crimes.
The website says that the data within this tool is published by the Home Office on data.police.uk which is provided by the 43 geographic police forces in England and Wales, the British Transport Police, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Ministry of Justice.
It displays three circles: red highlights an area which has had six or more incidents, orange shows places which have had three to five car crimes, and yellow is for zero to two.
We used the tool around Swansea to see which places had the most vehicle crimes in the six month period – see our panel at the top of the page.
The figures from January 2019 to June 2019 show that Glanbrydan Avenue had the most vehicle crimes with 15, followed by Morriston hospital and Langdon Road with 13.
All three streets have
now seen a reduced number of crime. Glanbrydan Avenue has dropped to five, while Morriston hospital registered four incidents and Langdon Road now has zero.
And figures from March 2018 to August 2018 showed Constitution Hill had the most vehicle crimes with 13, followed by Gorse Lane and Neath Road with 12.
Co-op Insurance has a blog with tips on how to keep your car safe. It says driveways and garages are the most secure places to park your car. ■ You can access the Park Smart tool on the internet at https://www. co-opinsurance.co.uk/ hub/park-smart/