Services

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worth getting a Thatcham Approved alarm. Thatcham Research is a ‘not for profit’ insurer funded research centre, and provides a holistic view of the benefits or shortcomings of new and current vehicle technologies. It is also worth checking if your insurance policy covers tool theft. Specific tool insurance can cover the cost of replacing damage to your tools, whether that’s from theft or an accident.

Van theft

Analysis of statistics released from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) by AA Insurance Services show a substantial hike in vehicle theft, which increased by 24.9 per cent in 2022 compared to the previous year. Similarly, theft from vehicles rose by 9.9 per cent and residential burglary increased by 2.9 per cent.

Across England in Wales in 2021, 104,435 had their vehicles stolen compared to 130,389 last year. For the same period (2022) 212,900 people had items stolen out of their vehicle compared to 193,647 the year before. Devon and Cornwall Police were unable to supply figures to the ONS, so the true figure is likely to be higher.

Thieves are using a variety of hi-tech methods – such as relay theft, key cloning and signal blocking – to steal vans.

AA Insurance Services advises using visible deterrents such as a steering wheel lock, to keep thieves at bay as these can’t be overcome by these more modern methods of van crime.

Gus Park, managing director for AA Insurance Services, said: “Unfortunately, there is no one thing that can guarantee keeping your car safe from theft, but just making it a bit harder for the thieves can make it less likely that they’ll go for your car. Don’t give miscreants an easy win, make them think about finding an easier target than your pride and joy.” L

Plans for a new truck safety rating scheme unveiled

Euro NCAP has announced that it will launch a new Truck Safe City and Highway rating scheme, which will provide detailed information about the safety of heavy trucks. The new Truck Safe rating scheme will enable all stakeholders in the freight industry to identify and assess the safety level of equipment in their heavy truck fleets.

“Advanced Driver Assistance technologies are now standard on most European cars, and they are contributing to more than a 40 per cent reduction in some crashes. Heavy trucks have the very same crashes but don’t have this technology fitted, leading to a disproportionate number of casualties in crashes involving heavy vehicles,” said Matthew Avery, chief research strategy officer, Thatcham Research.

Michiel van Ratingen, secretarygeneral Euro NCAP, said: “By examining safety levels of heavy and commercial trucks and improving their safety, I believe that we can end traffic-related fatalities and help many European countries to achieve their ‘Vision Zero’ target in road casualties.

“A truck safety label can incentivise good performance, allow optimisation of operational safety and cost, and will accelerate regulatory efforts to improve truck safety. European roads will hence become safer. We are actively seeking new members that can invest resources and their knowledge to help us make this scheme the success that society needs it to be. This marks the beginning of a new, challenging, and exciting journey for Euro NCAP, its members and those who wish to join us in the future.”