How to Avoid a Carjacking: Guidelines for Staying Safe
Like most small business owners, your car is perhaps your most expensive and essential tool. While you may take care to properly secure your business establishment, do you also take care to properly protect yourself, your passengers, and your vehicle when on the road? There are certain things you can do to keep yourself safe and avoid a carjacking.
A particularly violent crime
Carjacking is a violent crime perpetrated by today's most violent criminals. A case in point is a 22-year-old man in Detroit who was convicted in federal court on September 19 of multiple carjacking offensives. The offensives include three counts of carjacking and the use of a firearm during a crime of violence.
According to evidence presented at his trial, Dawon Washington and two other men committed three separate carjackings. The first carjacking resulted in the victim, a 21-year-old man, being shot twice in the failed attempt to forcibly take his car. He survived his injuries as his girlfriend sped away from the crime scene and took him to a hospital.
The second carjacking occurred when a man, his wife, and their 14-year-old son left their parked car to visit the boy's grandmother. The family was ambushed by Washington and a criminal cohort. The two criminals took the woman's purse and the family car.
The third carjacking occurred when Washington held up a young woman who had been shopping. Washington threatened to kill her and her 5-year-old child.
In all three carjackings, Washington was armed with a .45 caliber handgun. Washington faces a minimum sentence of 60 years in a federal prison.
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How to avoid being a victim of a carjacking
Businesspeople who use their car for work are potential victims of this violent crime. Law enforcement officers advise drivers to take precautions to ensure that they are not victimized by violent carjackers.
Below are some tips offered by law enforcement officers to help you avoid a carjacking:
- Plan your trip ahead of time and know which route to take. Avoid high crime areas.
- Keep your vehicle well maintained and with a tank full of gas. This will ensure that your vehicle will perform during an emergency.
- Keep your doors and windows locked.
- Have a charged cell phone handy.
- Travel on well-lit and well-traveled streets and roads.
- Travel with another person if possible.
- Travel in the center lane.
- Be aware of people around your car when stopped for a red light or stop sign. Don't put your window down for people on foot asking for directions or change. Be ready to speed away if necessary.
- If a person asks for help, don't leave your car. Use your cell phone to call 911.
- Park your car in a well-lit and populated area.
- When parking, look around for suspicious persons on foot nearby. If you see a suspicious person or persons, pull your car out of the parking space and go.
The above especially applies when driving up to an automated teller machine.
If you've been lightly rear-ended by another car on the road and you don't feel safe, drive away and call the police on your cell phone. Drive to the nearest gas station or police station.
Always trust your instincts.
