2 min read
27th January 2020

Criminals Love Cars With The Keys Left In

Icy car on a street

Although car security has improved enormously with most new vehicles coming equipped with alarm and immobiliser systems that are really tough to crack.

It doesn’t matter how good the security is if you leave your car on the road or drive with the engine running, opportunist thieves will treat it as an invitation to jump in your car and drive it away.

Up and down the county this is exactly what happens whenever there’s a hard frost. It is important to remember that if your car is stolen while left unattended with the engine running and the keys in the ignition, you’re unlikely to be covered by your insurance.

How to de-ice your windscreen

  • Start by ensuring that your windscreen wipers are switched off, this is in case they’re frozen to the windscreen, as you could damage your wiper motor when you start the engine.
  • Then start the car, turn on the windscreen blower, the heated rear windscreen and mirror heaters if you have them. You should also switch on the air-con as this helps to remove moisture from the blown air and prevents the inside of your windscreen from fogging up.
  • Next step is to tackle the iced-up windows and remember you need to do a thorough job (not just the driver’s side) there are no short cuts here. Begin by spraying de-icer over the windows and windscreen then get your scrapper in hand and work away at removing the ice.

It is important to remember that it is an offence to drive with a partially cleared windscreen meaning you could be fined and have points added to your licence so it’s best to make sure that all your windows, mirrors and lights are clear before you begin your journey.

Take preventive measures

Prevention is always better than the cure so if you know that there is a big frost on the way you can think of ways to keep your windows clear.

You could fit a car cap – similar to a windscreen cover, a car cap fits right over the roof and covers all the car’s windows.

If you don’t have a car cap or worried about the car cap being stolen late at night as your car is parked on a public road. You can still take preventive measures the night before, spray your windows with night-before de-icer and when the temperature plummets, the fluid will prevent the ice bonding with the glass. In the morning, you may still have to wait until your windows are de-misted on the inside, but at least you won’t be outside in the cold scraping off the ice.

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