Vehicle thefts continue to rise across the nation and USAA reveals the Top 10 states with most vehicle thefts.
USAA is a leader among the leading providers of insurance, banking, and investment and retirement solutions to more than 13 million members of the U.S. military, veterans who have honorably served and their families.
Their members have experienced an 8% increase in total theft of vehicles since 2021. USAA alone saw more than 20,000 vehicles stolen in 2022.
Top 10 States for USAA Vehicle Theft Claims in 2022:
- Texas
- California
- Colorado
- Washington
- Florida
- Georgia
- Virginia
- Oregon
- North Carolina
- Maryland
Keeping your vehicle secure is vital to the safety of yourself, your family, and your belongings. Here are five simple ways you can help prevent vehicle thefts:
- Never leave your keys inside your car when it is unattended.
- Always lock your car, even while driving.
- If you park outside, park in a well-lit area.
- Keep valuables out of sight from passersby.
- Install an anti-theft, vehicle immobilizer or tracking system.
Criminals racked up $6.4 million in motor vehicle thefts in 2019, with the average cost of theft at $8,886. That year, the most frequently stolen vehicles were Ford pickup, Ram pickup, Jeep Cherokee, Nissan Sentra and Dodge Charger.
In 2020, crime escalated by 9.2% year over year, equating to 73,000 more stolen vehicles, as reported by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. These figures underscore the frequency of auto crimes — and the need to protect your vehicle.
It’s important to take action quickly if your car is stolen or vandalized. This will increase the odds of recovering your stolen vehicle and get your claims processed faster. Here are the immediate steps you need to take:
- Do a double check. Before you jump to conclusions, rule out other possible explanations. Was it parked illegally and towed? Was it impounded or repossessed? Did a friend or family member borrow it?
- Call the police and file a report. You’ll need to provide basic information like the car’s make and model, license plate number and vehicle identification number (VIN). If your car was vandalized or broken in to, you’ll need to compile a list of stolen items and take pictures to document any vehicle damage.
- Contact your insurance agent. Confirm that you have comprehensive coverage on your vehicle, and see if any personal items are covered by your homeowners or renters policy.
- File your claim. You’ll need to file a car theft claim for the stolen vehicle and a homeowners or renters claim for any valuables inside.
- Call your bank. If any debit or credit cards were in your car at the time of the theft, contact your bank promptly to freeze your account. This will help you prevent fraudulent charges as well as identity theft.
CLICK: PARK LANE by Rebecca Taylor
IN GOD WE TRUST
For free email notice when we post a new article like this, sign up below.
Clever Journeys 
“Double Check”. I kept a car at the Railroad Stop in Germantown Maryland, and took a Train from Martinsburg WV, and used the car to get to work. The station was in Montgomery Country Maryland, one of the richer areas in the country. On arriving one morning, the car was gone. I reported it stolen, but the police said it was found in the middle of the road. Though it’s possible that some hooligans dragged it there, it was unlikely, and I checked the front bumper, it had dried mud on the underneath edge and it was undisturbed. I said I didn’t believe it was in the road, I think some officer decided it was stolen but in the parking space day after day. The officer I was speaking to said “Am I calling officer X (don’t remember his name) a liar”? I could see the trap in that. I went to the pound for the car, and relatively, they wanted as much to release it as it cost me to buy it, so I told them to keep it, never gave them the title, and walked away, never to return. They looked a little surprised. Montegomery
“Call your bank. If any debit or credit cards were in your car at the time of the theft, contact your bank promptly to freeze your account. This will help you prevent fraudulent charges as well as identity theft.”
This point likely needs done even if the cards are still there. If they steal them, they will surely be canceled by the card holder. Yet if they take pictures of them, front and back, and leave them in the car, the owner may not cancel them. It doesn’t mean that the numbers weren’t stolen. Ask your bank for advice.
I carried a Pocket Notebook and a Nerd Pouch at work. My passwords to my work accounts were in the notebook. Realizing that I had left the notebook and nerd pouch in a remote shop, I grabbed the shop truck and went to retrieve it. When I arrived, it was in situ (I seldom need that word, but it works wonderfully here, “In the original position”). But I’m mildly neurotic, and I figured there was the possibility that the passwords were copied. So I called the IT (Information Technology) Group, and I changed my passwords. I made my Workstation Log-On Password a Passphrase, and just changed my email and other passwords.
Two things resulted. Later that day, using the new password, I discovered I was locked-out of my email. The reason is that someone had the old password and tried 3 times to unsuccessfully Log-In, and that locks the account, so someone had stolen the password from the Notebook.
My Work-Station Log-On (and I could Log-On at any Work-Station in the plant) having the Password changed to a Passphrase frustrated my boss. I knew he’d watch me Log-On to get my password, and I would stop (I represented the Union, he represented the Company), I refused to Log-On with him over my shoulder. With the new Passphrase there were so many Letters, and Spaces; and Numbers and Symbols can be used too, and I often use Symbols; that I actually heard my Boss mutter “ah, there’s too many to remember” as he walked away. I would add Bogus Keystrokes (Like I hit a key but actually didn’t) when I suspected he was watching.
Passwords are still in my Notebook, but many numbers or letters are replaced by Dashes. Just enough letters so I know what the password is, but not enough that someone else could guess.
LikeLiked by 2 people
No wonder you have a bitter taste for police. I’ve had a similar experience with a car (not police) & just left it in Arizona (2 states away).
This password business helps explain why you use a pen name ‘Dr-Artaud’. We always enjoy your insights.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I have a relative that’s a homicide detective. My sons were pulled over for some driving infraction. But the cops played good cop bad cop. After 20 minutes of harassing my sons (I admit my son driving did something wrong, but the cops were looking for drugs by exploiting a traffic stop), my oldest son edified the officers that my sons had a relative that is at their precinct. The cops both laughed, asked for his name, grew silent, then released them.
I told an officer I had a relative that is a cop, didn’t drop names. I was sitting at a park a block from my house, so my wife could watch soaps at home. I pointed to the officer the house where I lived. He left, but came straight back, my Inspection and Registration were expired. He asked to see my license, owners card, and insurance, then parked behind me. With them in hand, I asked permission to exit my vehicle, he said it was fine. He looked at the documents, I asked him what happens next. He said “nothing”, handed my cards back and left. I impounded my own car, had it towed to be inspected (from my home a block away). I’d like to think some cops are like this even if you don’t have a relative that’s a cop, and I’ll bet there are, going by circumstances and not letter of the law. I respect police, just that one that asked if I’m calling officer X a liar, that was a trap and I kept my trap shut (mouth). LOL.
LikeLiked by 2 people
No Such Thing. Dr. Artaud is at 1 hour and 19 minutes. The link would open it time indexed, but the In-Window Player can be advanced to 1 hour 19 minutes. This is who I identify with. LOL. But I can sympathize with him.
This appears to be the complete movie, just drag the player cursor to the beginning to watch. I like it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am sorry about what happened to you. I also took the MARC train from a WV stop.
LikeLiked by 2 people
We lived in Knoxville Maryland near Brunswick Maryland, then moved to Martinsburg West Virginia. My youngest son was born in Charles Town West Virginia and it was Dr. Nau from Harper’s Ferry that delivered our son. Dr. Nau, not sure of his ancestry, but he was of European ancestry (the name sounds Asian).
The trains I rode were either Budd Cars, 2 coupled together, they looked like passenger cars but had an engine built in. The other train was a Diesel with passenger cars, but while I lived there they bought a Japanese Car (I was told) that had controls at one end to operate the diesel engine on the other end of the train. The benefit of that was that, upon arrival in Washington DC, the original train was parked for the day, until evening, but the engine was turned and placed on the other end of the train (now the head end) for the return journey, and that cost money to do. With the Japanese car at the tail end, the train was left in the yard as it arrived, but for the return trip, the engineer and brakeman would operate the train from the Japanese car, meaning the train looked to be traveling backwards for the return trip.
In the Budd cars one day, I had the horror to see the engineer and brakeman come running out of the control area of a moving train and run down the aisle way. I eventually asked what happened. There were turkeys on the track, they take flight, and if the train hits them, they break through the windows. Yet, a cow, or car, on the track is usually less threatening, as I was told they stay low when struck, not likely to break through the glass.
West Virginia is God’s gift to the world, a beautiful state.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I remember the cars. Going into DC the engineer could operate in a special section of the first passenger car and the engine would be in the rear. Reverse that for the return trip. I got on in Duffields usually the third train in the morning but sometimes the first train and usually sat in the next to last car. I knew someone that was on the train and got off near Germantown. Most people got on in Germantown but very few got off in the morning.
LikeLiked by 1 person
At 16 I had a car & delivered newspapers in downtown San Antonio. One Sunday morning about 3:30, I yielded at a stop sign. Policeman asked me for my license & asked if I still lived at the address on the card.
“Yes sir,” you might know my father, he’s a homicide detective. He asked me his name & his reply was, “Hell, I ought to give you another ticket then.”
It didn’t work name dropping my dad.
2 month later I went to a Police Officers Association meeting with my father. After the meeting closed & the officers all went to card tables to play poker.
“Son, can you go get us cups & a pitcher of beer.”
When I returned with 2 pitchers, I handed one to my dad to fill the cups & the other I “accidentally” spilled on the chest & lap of one of the men at the table.
Guess who? Yep, the cop who gave me a ticket for yielding at a stop sign at 3:30 am with absolutely no traffic around.
LikeLiked by 2 people
“”Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold” Meaning Definition: It is better to deliver retribution for an injustice after time has passed, and it can be done dispassionately.””
You took this literally I see. LOL.
I respect cops worth respecting. I support cops worth supporting. In both cases I support most police, but not those that are compromised by dubious involvements in brutality or corruption.
LikeLiked by 2 people
100% agree. I suppose I can say the same regarding doctors, teachers, etc. But not lawyers or politicians. Ha!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was taking a journalism class at Iowa State University in Ames back in the early 1990s. I had this professor who researched the least stolen cars in America. He found out that the least stolen car in America was the 1969 Oldsmobile station wagon. So he bought it.
I didn’t think that Ames, Iowa had a high crime rate or that lots of cars were stolen there. At any rate, I don’t think his car was ever stolen.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love it! Ha!,
LikeLiked by 2 people