There was a time when people in Wonder Lake left the doors of their homes unlocked. They knew their neighbors and knew they wouldn’t come into their homes unless invited. They also knew that their neighbors would notice if someone suspicious was near their home and that the neighbors would confront them, ask them what they were doing, or call the Sheriff to come check things out.

Folks around Wonder Lake used to leave their car, truck or SUV doors unlocked, too. Whether it’s your house or your vehicle, it’s no longer a good idea to leave the doors unlocked. For one thing, we don’t seem to know our neighbors as well as we used to. For another thing, respect for others’ property seems to be on the decline.

Leaving your house unlocked makes it easy pickings for someone with nefarious intent to come on in and help themselves. The same is true with your car, truck or SUV. While someone could steal from your home or vandalize, with your vehicle, they could drive away with the entire vehicle.

Automobile theft is high enough that insurance companies keep statistics on which vehicles are stolen most often. It turns out this is important news for folks in the area who drive pickup trucks; it seems they’re the favorites among ‘car’ thieves. The list also shows that Hondas are very popular among those who steal vehicles.

Here’s the list from the National Insurance Crime Bureau from 2021:

While leaving the doors unlocked can prove to be an invitation for someone to steal your vehicle, there’s also the risk that someone will take things you’ve left in the car, truck or SUV. It’s a good idea not to leave valuables in plain sight when you’re not in your vehicle lest they tempt someone to contemplate thievery. But, if the doors are unlocked, at least they’ll have to work a little harder to commit the crime.

Unfortunately, your vehicle may offer incentives for thieves even if they don’t enter the cabin, unlocked or otherwise. They may steal your wheels and tires. A more recent phenomenon is that they might take your catalytic converter. 

An online search for “theft of catalytic convertors” produces a list of stories from around the country where people have stolen the exhaust equipment from people’s cars. NPR did a story about Illinois-based National Insurance Crime Bureau reporting a surge in the theft of catalytic converters. The story is titled, “There’s Big Money in Stolen Catalytic Converters” leading to a “ten-fold increase in (these) thefts since 2018.”

It would seem that, if you do have to park your car, truck or SUV outside your Wonder Lake home at night, it might be a good idea to check your vehicle alarm and focus a surveillance camera in that direction. Better yet, if you can, put it in the garage overnight. And be sure to keep the garage doors locked, too.