The stats portraying the incidence of car crimes over the past decade reveals a great reduction in the phenomenon, dropping by as much as 80 percent. Despite this appealing stats, it is important to note that over eight hundred thousand car related crimes were recorded in the year ending June 2015. It is, therefore, important that you take the safety and security of your car seriously and one of the ways to do this is to look at the top 5 items stolen from cars, and ways of preventing them from getting stolen.  

Number One-Electrical Items.

Electrical items left in the car top the list of items often stolen from vehicles. Such items include mobile devices, sat navs, and laptops.  

The preventive measure is to hide such items if you ever have to leave them in the vehicle as opposed to taking them with you. Put them in the boot or glove box to keep them away from the sight of criminals. 

Number Two-Bags.

Bags are also susceptible to being stolen from the car if they are left on view. In addition to having your bag stolen, you also stand the risk of losing a side window.  

The prevention is easy, and all you have to do is keep the bags away from public view, just as you would do for other precious items. 

Number Three-Number Plates.

Number plates are next on the list, and this definitely sounds strange but is very true. Number plates are usually stolen by thieves and other such criminals, to hide their identity. It is, therefore, important to report a case of stolen number plates to the police as soon as possible to avoid getting caught up in a robbery case. It was reported that over 20,000 cases of stolen number plates were reported in 2014 in England and Wales. This shows the scale of the problem and why you should take it seriously. 

One of the ways to avoid such occurrences is to park your car in a garage and where this is unavailable, use anti-tamper screws. 

Number Four-Wheels.

Your wheels, especially the alloy wheels also make this list. Alloy wheels are highly susceptible to theft due to their attractiveness and insurance companies reported that 15 to 20 sets of alloy wheels were stolen weekly in 2015. 

The first preventive measure is to park your car in a garage. If this is not available, get a set of locking wheel nuts. 

Number Five-Catalytic Converters.

Catalytic converters complete the list of top 5 things stolen from cars and just as in this case of number plates, stealing catalytic converters sounds strange. Catalytic converters are part of the exhaust system, and its value as scrap has made it an item thieves would love to have. While the lack of it would not damage your car, it could make your car unworthy for the road as it causes the car to fail the emission test on a MOT. 

There are a couple of preventive measures that can be taken and they include parking right, welding the catalytic converter welded on, and marking and registering your car with a company so that it can be traced if stolen.