Three anti-crime organizations have requested YouTube to take down all movies that train folks easy methods to steal Kia and Hyundai cars. The organizations – the Nationwide Insurance coverage Crime Bureau (NICB), the Coalition Towards Insurance coverage Fraud, and the Worldwide Affiliation of Particular Investigation Items (IASIU) – made their request in response to a spike in thefts of those automobiles.
The Freeway Loss Knowledge Institute (HLDI) late final 12 months reported that bargain-priced Kia and Hyundai automobiles had been being focused for theft at charges just like muscle vehicles and SUVs, primarily based on an evaluation of 2021 insurance coverage claims. The spike is due, partly, to the truth that the fashions being stolen don’t have digital immoblizers that cease thieves from bypassing the ignition.
Some thieves have even made tutorial movies – shared on platforms like YouTube and TikTok – on easy methods to carry out the theft process utilizing only a screwdriver and a USB cable. Since these movies began showing on social media, police departments throughout the U.S. have reported drastic will increase in Kia and Hyundai thefts.
In Chicago, for instance, the place solely 328 Kias had been stolen in 2021, greater than 3,500 had been stolen final 12 months, CBS Chicago reported.
“On a regular basis customers are being victimized by criminals utilizing social media platforms to be taught their latest unlawful tips and methods,” stated David Glawe, president and CEO of the NICB. “Some platforms should not doing sufficient to guard harmless victims from pointless hurt.”
Celeste Dodson, president of IASIU, added, “When a car is stolen, it’s usually not the tip of the crime however the starting. Automobile thefts are related to a mess of felony exercise, together with insurance coverage fraud. The price of these crimes is then handed on to customers via larger premiums.”
Non-public-passenger auto insurance coverage premium charges are experiencing upward stress as a result of quite a lot of components, together with:
- Rising insurer losses as a result of growing accident frequency and severity;
- Extra fatalities and accidents on the highway, resulting in elevated legal professional involvement in claims;
- Persevering with supply-chain points, resulting in rising prices for vehicles, alternative elements, and labor; and
- Extra pricey auto repairs as a result of safer, extra technologically subtle automobiles.
Thefts of automobiles or elements like catalytic converters solely improve that stress to boost charges.
The one approach to flip that stress down is to cut back claims and losses by lowering accidents and thefts. Making it more durable for folks to learn to break the legislation and trigger harm by watching on-line movies could be a small however wanted step in that route.
