Auto Theft and the Role of Big Business

• NCJ Number: 89728
• Journal: Crime and Social Justice Issue: 18 Dated: (Winter 1982) Pages: 62-68
• Author(s): H Brill
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 7 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The auto and insurance industries, reinforced by the collaboration of the criminal justice system, contribute to auto theft by making highly theft-vulnerable automobiles and refusing to provide incentives to motorists who theft-proof their cars.

Abstract

The cost of auto theft crime is staggering, and victimization studies indicate that lower income motorists are victimized far more often than persons with middle and high incomes. Moreover, insured motorists are generally victimized by paying exorbitant premiums. Legitimate salvage yards and used car dealers often have close connections with theft rings, but are seldom touched by the law. The automobile industry has successfully combated legislative and regulatory attempts to make vehicles more resistant to theft, although effective, low-priced antitheft devices exist. They have also opposed regulations requiring manufacturers to place vehicle registration numbers on various crash parts, since the aggregated costs would be high for the large manufacturers. While car theft directly generates more sales, the stealable car coupled with repossession laws promotes more liberal loan policies and thereby also stimulates sales. Only the insurance industry is capable of countering automobile manufacturers, but it has not supported lower rates for theft-protected vehicles. Insurers are reluctant to lower premiums since they provide capital for investment, the main source of insurance company profit. The insurance industry attempts to create the illusion that its interests and the public's are harmonious, such as the industry-financed Coalition for Auto Insurance Reform which promoted deregulation in Massachusetts. Their National Automobile Theft Bureau indirectly promotes theft by compelling many thieves to rely on salvage sales where surveillance is minimal and sting operations have little impact. The paper provide 2 footnotes and 25 references.