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A friend of ours lives in NYC but owns some property in our small town. Every time he would come here 'to the sticks' he would leave the car keys in the ignition and the front door unlocked. Because, after all, this town "isn't The City!". Getting his car stolen while he was here in the sticks curbed those tendencies a bit
Stillwater is 46,000 in population. That is a small city, not a small town. I will agree that a person should lock their vehicle regardless of the size of village/town/city they live in.
We've gone off and left the house unlocked quite a few times. I had a good idea we had good neighbors the first week we moved in this house. I have 2 very old Schwin 3 speed bicycles that need some repair. Hadn't had a chance to put them in the shed yet, so they were leaning against the shed. The next morning, as I was leaving, our next door neighbor flagged me down. He and another neighbor had seen a couple men trying to take the bicycles and scared them off. Called the sheriff's office and the men were caught with numerous bikes from around town in their van. I hadn't even had a chance to introduce myself to my neighbors and they were looking out for me.
And we never lock our cars. Never leave anything worth taking in them and, if somebody wants to steal it bad enough, a locked door won't stop them.
About five years ago DH and were sound asleep when I heard his work pickup turn over out in the driveway.
It was something like 2AM, we lived on a ranch 12 miles from pavement and three miles from our nearest neighbor. The only road that ran through the place was a private trail (though it did connect two county roads).
I shot up in bed, jabbed him in the side and said "Someone's stealing your pickup!!
Why on earth would someone want to steal your pickup?!?!" (it was a 20 year old, beat up, Chevy flatbed with no muffler, which is why we heard it start. lol)
He raced out the door in just his shorts, with me about five steps behind with a shotgun.
Turns out a drunk had wandered onto our road and gotten his own pickup stuck. He was just going to "borrow" ours to pull himself out.
Needless to say, we still don't lock the doors, but we DO pull the keys.
PS: In my part of the world, 46,000 would be the third largest city in the state! lol I lock my doors when I just go into "town" (about 600) for the simple fact that I don't want one of the high school kids getting a wild hair and deciding to hide my vehicle.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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I still leave my keys in my door (on outside of house). That way I know where they are when I leave.
I have several cars that don't lock OR need a key to run. Keys are a hassle. Just install a push button. For theft deterrent you can mount the button under the dash.
I hear it is a good idea to lock your vehicle if you have a gun inside. Guess I will need to get an upgrade vehicle if I need one that locks.
We've gone off and left the house unlocked quite a few times. I had a good idea we had good neighbors the first week we moved in this house. I have 2 very old Schwin 3 speed bicycles that need some repair. Hadn't had a chance to put them in the shed yet, so they were leaning against the shed. The next morning, as I was leaving, our next door neighbor flagged me down. He and another neighbor had seen a couple men trying to take the bicycles and scared them off. Called the sheriff's office and the men were caught with numerous bikes from around town in their van. I hadn't even had a chance to introduce myself to my neighbors and they were looking out for me.
And we never lock our cars. Never leave anything worth taking in them and, if somebody wants to steal it bad enough, a locked door won't stop them.
Exactly!
Where I'm from, the worst crime was someone killing their own father, but little to no "crime crime". I've always left the car unlocked; but then again I've always had less than flashy cars (except for my 1st car, it was a '65 Stang), and I agree with kygman; if they want it bad enough, they WILL get in and steal it.
In one suburb around here, teens were vandalizing cars, they would squirt lighter fluid in the seats, then throw a lit match in there and run. Yikes! They eventually caught them. So LOCK your cars even in your own driveway.
And we moved out to an unincorporated area from the city, in my opinion, the vandalism is WAY worse out here. Lots more bored kids. Can't say how many times we have been vandalized, our rural mailboxes have taken some beatings too.
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