These days just about every car comes with some type of alarm. I don’t think it really helps with car theft but we can use the built in alarm system to do more than just lock and unlock our doors.
First, you can keep your keys near you at night. Find out where your key fob works and where it doesn’t in your house. If someone is outside at night, or you think there might be someone, you can push the panic button on your car alarm. Not the best system because most people ignore car alarms now, but most burglars and criminals don’t want attention. If someone is trying to break in your house, they will probably go elsewhere. It’s also a good way to see when it’s dark. I’ve done this at hotels late at night. I just wanted to make sure no one was around my truck so I just pushed the unlock button and all the lights come on in my truck. Really easy to see if someone is there with all the lights on. Just don’t abuse your alarm late at night, you might piss off you neighbors.
I actually use my key fob to lock my truck. It’s a simple way to make sure you don’t lock your keys in the car. If you always use the key fob, you always have your keys with you. Not that big a deal until you lock your keys in your car late at night in a bad area. I do it just because I hate waiting on AAA to unlock my vehicle. Yes I have AAA and have for decades. They do a good job for the $125 a year I pay.
The time I use my alarm on my truck the most is when I have stuff to load, especially when I have my kid. My kid goes in his car seat in the back passenger side. I will unlock the doors, open the door I need and then lock them all again. This keeps anyone from slipping in the other side of your vehicle while you are loading. It hasn’t been that popular around the country yet, but this tactic was used against mothers in California for a while and looked like it was going to spread. So simple to unlock the doors, open the one you need and then lock the rest of them. It avoids a lot of problems. Criminals that are targeting you will be listening to the sounds of the doors locking and unlocking.
When I keep the keys with me and all the doors locked all the times, this gives me options. For instance, I’m putting things in the car and someone walks up to me. I can simply close the door and turn and face them. This is especially if someone means harm and I have my kid half in the car. If I have the doors locked and close the door, this limits access to my child. Now I can deal with the problem.
One of my options at the point is to chuck my keys. If someone wants my car really bad, but I really don’t want them to have it (because my kid is in there), I can throw my keys into the bushes or just as far as possible. This buys me time. I’m fully aware if I use this tactic that the person trying to car jack me or kidnap my kid is going to be extremely angry and probably take it out on me. If it comes to fighting someone or losing my kid, the fight is on.
These are just a couple things that can be done. Sit and think about it. Learn how your car alarm and door locks work. You will come up with lots of things to do that will keep you safer.
Stay Safe,
Ben