Four hundred cars stolen each week; 600 break-ins
Police begin nationwide campaign to reduce car thefts
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In the first six months of this year, around 400 cars each week were stolen in Finland, and around 600 vehicles were broken into with a view to stealing the contents. Each week, some 23 cars disappear permanently.
In all, the Finnish police have recorded around 13,000 thefts from vehicles in the period from January to June this year, or 16% fewer than in the first half of 2003, according to preliminary figures from Statistics Finland. Actual thefts of the vehicle itself were just under 9,400, a 10% decline on the 2003 figures.
Last year the insurance companies paid out around EUR 30 million in motor vehicle theft claims.
Although the numbers have fallen, the police are embarking today on a nationwide campaign against motor vehicle-related crimes. During the campaign the police will be providing information on what precautions to use to prevent being parted from your car or its contents.
Quite apart from the nuisance and financial losses incurred by the owners of the cars, vehicle-related thefts cause a wide range of other problems. A car thief is always a road safety risk. Excessive speed and poor judgement cause dangers to other road users. Stolen cars cause more than 500 accidents each year, in which an average of ten people are killed and as many as 150 are injured.
Matters are hardly improved by the statistic that some 60% of those car thieves and joy-riders involved in an accident are found to have been drunk at the wheel.
Helsingin Sanomat
