How Important is a Garage?
This question is asked from the point of view of preventing the theft of your vehicle. A 1996 British study (couldn’t find more recent data) by Mirlees-Black, Mayhew and Percy found that vehicles parked in an owner’s garage were 50 times less likely to be stolen than those parked on the street in front of the owner’s property (or out in the open on a rural property).
There are a number of reasons for this diversity:
- If your vehicle is in the garage, it is not visible to thieves. If they can’t see it, they don’t know if it’s there to be stolen or broken into.
- Access to your vehicle by thieves is much easier if it’s out in the open vs in a garage. They can walk right up to it all the while keeping an eye out for you or someone else observing them.
- You can lock your garage to provide an extra layer of security between thieves and your vehicle.
A third of vehicle thefts occur from residences (as per the same British study). One reason for this is that according to the “Garage Living” website, vehicles are only driven on average 5% of the time. That means it’s parked 95% of the time.
It should be pointed out that parking in an open shed (i.e. missing the front wall) is not the same as having a fully enclosed garage for the same reasons as noted above. I am aware of a vehicle owner who had their car broken into even though it was in this type of shed just outside their back door.
As an added layer of defense, you can also lock the vehicle that’s in the garage. It takes very little time to do so and it’s even quicker if you use the key fob. The more layers of defense the better. If there are two vehicles in a garage and one is locked and the other isn’t, all things being equal, which one is more likely to be entered?
It goes without saying that your key fob should not be permanently left in your vehicle while it’s at home. I know it sounds obvious, but I’m willing to bet that people do it because it’s easy, and you never have to go looking for your key fob. (I’m going to do a separate article devoted to protecting your key fob as thieves are employing new methods to steal their codes every day.)
Another interesting fact is that up to 50% of garages don’t have vehicles in them. They are used for storage. Yes, the garage will also keep your stuff safe, but odds are your vehicle is more valuable. Not to mention that it is a pain in the you-know-where if you don’t have it at your beck and call next time you want to use it, especially in rural areas where you have to drive to go anywhere.
Some other benefits of keeping your vehicle parked in the garage is that it’s ready to go. You don’t have to brush off the snow or scrape the ice off your windshield. How many times have you driven away with the defroster on high, hunched over, peering through a small portal at the bottom of the windshield? You and I have all done it all the while hoping we don’t hit anything (deer, car, semi). If others were driving likewise, it could make a trip interesting.
Another benefit is that your vehicle is out of the elements. The longer I live in the high country, the more I realize how susceptible we are to UV rays. Plastic doesn’t last long up here. Nowadays, there’s a lot of plastic on vehicles. Not to mention rubber, like your tires or your windshield wipers. Your wipers take a beating every time you try to unstick them from the windshield in winter.
It is recommended that you should replace your wipers every twelve months. Don’t wait until you find out you need new ones in the midst of a downpour or snowstorm when you can’t see anything. That’s as bad as driving hunched over with the defrost on high.
Park your vehicle in the garage, take your key fob in the house with you, keep it away from the door and inside an RFID pouch, and you’ll be able to drive away safely next time you need to.
Dave Schroeder
HCRCWA Board Member
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