I remember as a child that half of the time our car was left unlocked when parked down the street. Sure, it was just a battered old Volvo, but even so it never crossed our minds to bother to look it – generally we knew that the area was nice enough and safe enough for us to not be worried.

Nowadays, however, things have changed. Car thefts and break ins keep becoming more and more frequent, and aren’t isolated to the expensive cars amongst us. Any valuables, such as mobile phones , a SatNav or a radio are severely at risk even if we do take the time to lock the doors. We are living in different times now. People are becoming increasingly security-conscious, and for good reason.

So, how to we keep safe.

The first area, of course, is prevention:

• Always lock the car doors, even if you are just nipping into the house to grab something. Remember – thieves are generally opportunistic!
• Don’t leave any valuables on display – better yet, don’t leave valuables in the car.
• Advertise a security system. Even if you don’t actually have one, using a window sticker to advertise the “car alarm” can work a charm.
• Use a fake alarm. These little flashing creations makes it look like you have an activated alarm – which will stop your car being easy prey.
• Park in a public well-lit area if possible.

Car Security - A Car Wheel Lock

Once you have prevented, why not make it as difficult as possible for them:

• Use a number plate lock to stop your number-plates being vulnerable.
• Also replace your fuel cap with an emergency one if you lose it to prevent fuel being siphoned off.
• Use a steering lock like this one to make driving the car away as difficult as possible.
• If you live in a really bad area, consider a wheel clamp, as this is a real deterrent (and makes it impossible to drive off).
• Use special screws to screw in your alloy, which can’t be removed with an ordinary screwdriver.
• You can even burglar proof your windows with a clear, unbreakable polycarbonate panel secured behind the glass on the inside.

Do you have any more good advice?