{"id":42776,"date":"2018-03-14T09:39:13","date_gmt":"2018-03-14T15:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=42776"},"modified":"2018-03-14T09:56:16","modified_gmt":"2018-03-14T15:56:16","slug":"idling-your-car-with-the-keys-in-it-an-invitation-to-car-theft-drivers-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2018\/03\/14\/idling-your-car-with-the-keys-in-it-an-invitation-to-car-theft-drivers-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Idling your car with the keys in it an invitation to car theft, drivers say"},"content":{"rendered":"

W<\/span>ith winter dragging into spring, the issue of car theft has been rising, due to people idling their vehicles.<\/p>\n

Many Calgary residents, who don’t have remote starters, will leave their keys in the ignition to warm their car 15 minutes before their departure.<\/p>\n

But this makes the car an easy target for thieves.<\/p>\n

According to recent reports, an average of 111 vehicles are stolen each week in Calgary, one of the highest rates in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always run my car 15-20 minutes before I leave the house,\u201d said Macalester Donald, a Strathmore resident.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s not good for your car to run when it’s this cold out, you can wreck your engine by doing that.”<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally I never idle my car, it\u2019s something I don\u2019t want to risk. I\u2019m not one of those people who get mad at others for doing it either. It\u2019s a personal choice, I\u2019m just someone who prefers not to do it,\u201d said Shelby Johnson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that there should be a bylaw on idling,”\u00a0said Lana McLellan, a citizen who is passionate about the environment.<\/p>\n

“Not only would it decrease vehicle theft in the city and help bring crime down but it would benefit the environment,\u201d McLellan said.<\/p>\n

“The unneeded pollution that comes with idling is gross. If citizens were to stop idling altogether it would make a bigger difference that one would think.”<\/p>\n

This issue of car theft rising during the winter months has an easy solution: Don\u2019t leave your keys in your car unattended. Calgary police have been pleading with citizens to stop doing this.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t want your car to be potentially stolen then don\u2019t leave your keys in your car,\u201d said Johnson.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s a self-inflicted crime.<\/p>\n

“If someone sees keys in a car obviously an odd percentage will take advantage. There shouldn\u2019t have to be a bylaw. Just don\u2019t be stupid.”<\/p>\n

If people insist on having a warm car for their ride to work there are other options rather then leaving your keys in the ignition such as getting a remote starter.<\/p>\n

Although such a device can be expensive, it eliminates the risk of your car being stolen in those 10 minutes you go back inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never chanced leaving my keys,\u201d said Donald.<\/p>\n

“I spent the extra money and got an automatic car starter.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019d rather pay that then the fees and go through the long process of trying to get my car back.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many Calgary residents will idle their cars to warm them up before their departure. But this increases the risk of car theft within the city. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":449,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S1 car theft in winter","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,13,2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-42776","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-city","7":"category-news","8":"category-campus-2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/449"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42776"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44081,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42776\/revisions\/44081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}