Technology supposedly aims to make our lives better, easier, and more fun, but at least in one particular case, tech has only made matters worse. Keyless entry and keyless start in cars are partially to blame for a boom in the number of auto thefts over recent years.
In London alone, car theft has become so normalized (for lack of a better word) through frequency of occurrence and authorities' response that, in many cases, owners feel it's up to them to fix the problem. Whether that involves getting creative to deter thieves from stealing the car in the first place or tracking the stolen vehicle and then pointing police in the right direction, instances of owners taking matters into their own hands abound.
But even in this context, this one instance stands out. A video posted on the socials has been picked up by local media outlets and described as a shocking glimpse into "lawless London." It aims to show the lengths to which and the desperation of certain car owners, to the point where they're chaining their 4x4s to trees when parking on city streets.
The video itself is short, only a few seconds long, and offers no indication as to the area of London where it was shot or any other pertinent information. It shows a Range Rover secured to a tree with a thick chain, padlocked for extra safety. The chain is secured to the car's rear bumper, and, presumably, the mere sight of it would discourage a thief from even thinking about stealing the car.
Photo: TikTok/RealLifeBants
Not that this will come as a surprise to you, but a chain won't even keep an old and rusty bicycle from being stolen – and we're not even talking about one of the motor-assisted variety. Chains are easily defeated by cordless angle grinders and bolt cutters, and thieves in London, where moped crime has been on the rise in recent years, know all about this.
Much more efficient methods of discouraging car theft exist, aside from the age-old need-a-key-to-start-the-car thingy. A steering wheel lock, a kill switch, or even a PIN-enabled add-on would work much better than what the chain lock is trying to achieve here.
But that wouldn't look as dramatic on the socials. That's just a nice way of suggesting that maybe the video was staged for clicks because that's how these things go. The reality it paints, though, is very much real (heh): car theft is on the rise in London, and Land Rovers are among the hottest commodities, for thieves.
Photo: TikTok/RealLifeBants
Figures released by the DVLA (Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency) for 2023 show that five out of the top 10 most stolen car models come from Jaguar Land Rover. That's the kind of distinction no automaker wants, but JLR promises it had nothing to do with last month's announcement that it would be offering up to £1 million (approximately $1.2 million) to help police catch car thieves, as neither did the drop in JLR prices over recent months.
Former Top Gear host turned columnist for The Sun Jeremy Clarkson notes that Land Rovers being so increasingly appealing for thieves has also meant higher insurance rates for owners and even cases in which insurance companies refuse to cover the vehicle at all. "Now getting cover is both expensive and tricky," he says.
One thing's certain, though. Chaining your Land Rover to a tree won't do much good in this sense except get you trending on TikTok.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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