DO you drive a Ford Fiesta or a Range Rover? According to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) Fiestas and Range Rovers were the most stolen cars in the UK in 2022.
The data analysed by car leasing company Rivervale Leasing found that up to November the 22 this year 58,082 stolen vehicles had been reported by the police to the DVLA – that’s up more than 10,000 on 2021. The data revealed that the soon-to-be-discontinued Ford Fiesta was the most stolen car with 5,724 taken. The Range Rover was second with 5,209, and another Ford, the Focus, came third with 2,048.
Fourth was the Volkswagen Golf, fifth the Land Rover Discovery, sixth and seventh the Vauxhall Corsa and Astra, eighth was the Mercedes-Benz C Class, ninth the Audi A3 and rounding out the top ten yet another Ford in the guise of the EcoSport.
An industry expert confirmed that keyless car theft known as ‘relay theft’ is becoming increasingly more common. This is where people take advantage of keyless entry vehicles, using a device to capture the key fob signal sent to the car.
“It’s hard to prevent but you can help reduce your chances of being a victim by storing your keys in a car key protective pouch, available from retailers for around £5 or a car key blocker box from about £10, both designed to block your key’s signal.
So how does a relay attack work? It usually involves two people working together. One stands by the targeted vehicle, while the other stands near the house with a device that can pick up a signal from the key fob, and some devices can pick up a signal from over 100 metres. The device then relays the key fob’s signal directly to the car, allowing the thieves to get in and drive away immediately. Testing out some of these devices available from Amazon and eBay, researchers managed to hack into a Ford Fiesta in less than two minutes. In other more complex tests, ADAC, Europe’s largest motoring organisation, discovered that some other brands are more at risk than others, saying that BMW and Peugeot systems are particularly easy to hack. How can we protect our cars? perhaps it’s back to the future as the good old fashioned steering lock from about £25 can prevent the thieves from driving off in your car once they have opened and started it. Don’t let the fob hackers have your lovely car, sort something now.
Greer takes the Killarney honours
STUNNING: The rugged Kerry landscape attracts tens of thousands
“THEY say that the lakes of Killarney are fair,” but on the first weekend in December they are better than fair, as tens of thousands of rally fans descend on the town to enjoy Kerry’s famous festive celebrations and watch Ireland’s premier Historic rally event.
This year the fans were treated to an absolute thriller as Carryduff’s Jonny Greer and co-driver Niall Burns claimed their first Killarney Historic Rally victory after a superb rally-long battle with the World Rally Championship team of Craig Breen and Paul Nagle. The two crews swapped the lead throughout the day and looked set for a showdown on the final run over Moll’s Gap after Greer’s fastest time on the penultimate stage had wiped out Breen’s one-second advantage. There was literally nothing between Greer and Breen with both drivers on identical times. But the eagerly anticipated shoot-out wasn’t to be as Breen was forced to pull his Sierra Cosworth to the side of the road with a broken driveshaft before he reached the stage start-line. While Greer was sad to see his rival’s demise, it eased his nerves through Killarney’s finale as he completed a long-awaited success on the event with a 30.6-second victory over Alan Ring and Adrian Deasy.
Jonny had been second-fastest on the first run over Moll’s Gap, 0.7 seconds behind Breen’s rear-wheel-drive Sierra Cosworth. Cathan McCourt’s Ford Escort Mk2 was 1.6 seconds further behind Breen in third, with the Subaru Legacy of Alan Ring just 0.6 seconds further adrift. Sebastian Ling and Aled Rees completed the top five, but they bowed out after an off-road excursion on the first run over the lofty heights of Ballaghbeama. Also on Ballaghbeama, McCourt dropped out of third when a big moment slowed him, and on the next stage, Kilgobnet, he spun his Mk2 Escort, dropping to fifth behind Ring and Williams.
Greer was loving the Kilgobnet stage, and a fastest time put him 1.2 seconds into the lead at the first service halt. But on the second run over Moll’s Gap, Breen bounced back 4.4 seconds faster, ironically after receiving help from Greer’s team with new parts for his rear axle, a sign of rallying’s true sportsmanship. A spin next time over Ballaghbeama cost Breen a few seconds and Greer took advantage on the next stage with yet another fastest time to set up the dead-heated final stage shoot-out that was not to be.
In the modified section Kevin Eves and Chris Melly took the honours in their Toyota Corolla, a comfortable 38.5 seconds ahead of Daniel McKenna and Andrew Grennan in a Mk2 Escort. Both Johno Doogan and Jason Black completed superb comeback drives after earlier woes to clinch third and fifth respectively, Black, an incredible 13.3 seconds faster than his class rivals on the final run over Moll’s Gap.
Motorists hit a bum note as report suggests in-car music can be a dangerous thing
MOTORISTS who listen to music while driving could be disrupting the harmony on our roads, according to latest research. A survey of 1,004 motorists, commissioned by leading independent road safety charity IAM RoadSmart, has revealed that two-thirds of motorists believe that having loud music on while driving can be distracting.
The survey also revealed that more than a third of motorists surveyed believe that listening to music while driving has an impact on how fast they drive. Meanwhile, two thirds of respondents said that they turn off music when confused or stressed. Despite drivers reporting such issues, nearly nine in ten of survey respondents said they listen to music while driving, meaning many motorists’ ability to drive is being negatively impacted by listening to music.
The findings come in the wake of the Department for Transport’s recent finding that distracted drivers were a contributing factor in 16,333 road incidents in 2021, with 3,700 of these distractions coming from inside of the vehicle. Furthermore, speeding was found to kill or seriously injure 22,130 road users on our roads, in 2021 alone. Neil Greig, Director of Policy and Research at IAM RoadSmart, said of the news: “Distracted drivers and speeding are two of the biggest contributing factors in road collision and deaths. While there are a multitude of reasons why these tragic events occur, our survey has shone a light on perhaps a less apparent reason as to why drivers may become distracted or exceed the speed limit.”
Is it time to turn the music down when we are driving? It sounds like it makes sense.
