Kill hauliers' apathy to lorry thefts, says CID man
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• Some 20 per cent of commercial drivers were ''not straight-, it was stated by Superintendent D. Rees at a meeting on security in Luton on Monday. The CID knew whether a driver was straight or not, the driver to worry about was the waverer. Immediate availability of information regarding the intended destination of the vehicle, route, load and so on could be a big help to the police in the recovery of a stolen load. "If we could kill the apathy of hauliers to security measures, we would be 75 pet cent of the way there,said Superintendent Rees.
Mr. J. T. Brown, of Atlas Express Ltd.. chairman of the vehicle security committee of the Road Haulage Association, gave a talk on vehicle protection and security devices. In answer to a question during the discussion Mr. Brown advocated much stiffer sentences for receivers of stolen goods and for drivers found guilty of collusion. Insurance companies would in future dictate what security measu res were taken.
In his talk on security devices Mr. Brown said that the type of lock used should be one that was automatically actuated by the ignition key. The driver would then operate his vehicle in the normal way without the necessity to use a separate key. Such a facility was provided by a steering lock on the column. A gearbox lock appeared to be a good type but in practice the driver often left the key in the lock, he said.
Commenting on one popular steering lock Mr. Brown said that wear over a long period could result in malfunctioning of the mechanism, but eradication of this fault could be expected. Wear defects did not materialize in the case of the Neiman steering lock produced by Trico Folberth. The Norrish system incorporated an electric cut-out as well as a steering lock and was as good a type as it was currently possible to obtain.
Mr. Brown emphasized that the best a security device could do was to -buy a little time". No device could protect a vehicle that was left all night in a secluded spot. It was advisable to use a welded key ring for the joint attachment of the ignition key and the key of the roller shutters, so that the steering would have automatically been locked when the driver left the cab to open the shutters. Some ingenious self-locking fuel devices, Mr. Brown pointed out, enabled the vehicle to be left conveniently prepared for a thief to drive it away. When he had disposed of the load the thief could abandon the vehicle in a locked condition. The driver could produce his keys with the claim that this proved his innocence.
A number of vehicle manufacturers offering steering locks were mentioned by Mr. Brown, namely Atkinson, I3MC, Dodge, ERF, Ford arid Vauxhall. An operator should specify a steering lock when the vehicle was ordered, to obviate later dismantling and modifying. It would be very simple for all steering shafts to be suitably machined and the columns modified to accept a steering lock. If this were done many more vehicles would be so fitted.
Asked for his opinion of anti-hijacking equipment, Mr. Brown said that such equipment was much needed and that there were several systems in the development stage. The system would have to make a lot of noise and protect the driver. It should not give the driver an alibi.
The Luton crime prevention month that opened on February 26 and ends on March 24 has had a big impact on local residents, Superintendent Rees claimed. It is anticipated that over 20,000 people will have visited the police-manned crime prevention exhibition in Manchester Street, Luton, by the end of the period.