{"id":132690,"date":"2016-09-08T09:04:50","date_gmt":"2016-09-08T07:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/132690\/motorists-urged-to-be-vigilant-2\/"},"modified":"2016-09-08T09:42:30","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T07:42:30","slug":"motorists-urged-to-be-vigilant-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/lifestyle-news\/2016\/09\/08\/motorists-urged-to-be-vigilant-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Motorists urged to be vigilant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>According to Bianca De Beer, spokesperson for Dialdirect:\u00a0 \u201cOur claims statistics note a similar upward trend in hijackings.\u00a0 Our statistics mirror those of the SAPS and show that the majority of hijackings take place in Gauteng, followed by Kwa-Zulu Natal and then the Western Cape.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dialdirect offers the following practical tips to avoid becoming a hijacking statistic:<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Plan your route.<\/strong> Use a GPS to avoid getting lost and becoming an easy target. Inform the people \/ person at your destination about your estimated time of arrival.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stay alert.<\/strong> Always be aware of your surroundings and look out for anything suspicious.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be confident and focused.<\/strong> Limit distractions, such as checking or talking on your cellphone, when walking to or from your car.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lock up.<\/strong> Avoid driving with windows open, keep the doors locked and lock valuables out of sight. Install smash-and-grab window protection if possible.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mix things up.<\/strong> Vary the routes you take to make it less predictable for criminals.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Check the tail.<\/strong> If you suspect you are being followed, make a couple of false turns. If someone is still following you, drive to the nearest police station.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Allow space.<\/strong> Leave enough room between you and the car in front of you to avoid being boxed in.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Savvy stopping.<\/strong> Slowdown in such a way that the light is green by the time you reach a traffic light, especially late at night \u2013 this avoids you coming to a complete stop and reduces your risk of becoming a target.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pick your parking spot.<\/strong> Always park in a safe, well-lit area.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use panic buttons.<\/strong> If you sense you are in danger, use the panic button on your tracking device if it has one.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Go electric.<\/strong> Many hijackings happen just as you are entering or leaving your home. Having a well-lit, shrub-free driveway and an electric gate (that can switch to a battery during power failures) can help you get in and out safely. Use the remote to close the gate behind you, rather than waiting for the self-timer. This limits a criminal\u2019s window of opportunity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Know your neighbour.<\/strong> Knowing your neighbours and the cars they drive well help you to better identify suspicious individuals and vehicles.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Keep an SOS phone.<\/strong> Keep a spare, small and cheap phone loaded with airtime and emergency contacts (including your insurer) handy so that you can call for help even if your car and valuables are stolen.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Keep your car in tiptop shape.<\/strong> A broken down car makes you a target for would-be hijackers who will settle for a raid of your valuables.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A useful video that shows how to get away in a hijacking situation<\/p>\n<p>watch here:<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zZP-Tt7xFrk<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Confronted by a hijacker? Here are the golden rules to remember:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Remain calm.<\/li>\n<li>Do not argue.<\/li>\n<li>Do not make sudden gestures.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid eye contact but try to remember what the carjacker looked like by identifying and remembering special features.<\/li>\n<li>Comply with the hijackers directions (within reason).<\/li>\n<li>Try and get away from the area as quickly as possible.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t be a hero \u2013 your life is worth more than your car.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-below-post-content\">\n<div class='tenancy_slot tenancy_slot_1 jannah_ad' style='display: none;' data-query-id='61d97afb1b1a62861673c23f15b75c12'><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to statistics recently released by the SAPS, car hijackings have increased by a concerning 14.3% since last year and by 55% over the past 4 years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7868,"featured_media":132691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3686],"tags":[12221,4397,6826,5271],"class_list":["post-132690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle-news","tag-dialdirect","tag-hijackings","tag-motorists","tag-stats"],"amp_enabled":true,"category_labels":{"Category":"Lifestyle","SubCategory":"Entertainment"},"tag_labels":["dialdirect","hijackings","motorists","stats"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7868"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}