A、Young people who want to ride a car for joy. B、Professionals who steal cars for other crimes. C、People who lack money to buy a

Good evening. I know many of you students are the proud owners of your first motor vehicle, and this evening I want to talk to you about some of the things you can do to make sure your car or motorbike isn’t stolen. I will start with a few facts and figures to put you in the picture. Car theft is a widespread problem. In this country alone one car is stolen every 32 seconds. That’s almost a million cars each year. And of those, 40% are never recovered. And don’t think that just because your car might be a bit old and beaten-up looking no one will steal it. Any car can be stolen. Anywhere.
     Most thefts occur in residential areas, often in front of the house or even from inside the garage. Some areas that are especially dangerous are shopping centers and parking lots, particularly at sports events.
     Most car thieves don’t need to break into the car. They usually gain entry through unlocked doors and many times they find the key in the ignition. In fact, one in five stolen cars had the keys left in the car. Isn’t that amazing? Twenty percent of drivers left the keys in the ignition of an unlocked car!
     Who steals cars? Well, there are basically two kinds of car or bike thieves: joyriders aged about 15 to 21, and professionals. This last group usually needs less than one minute to break into a locked car and they often steal cars to use in other crimes such as robberies. You are much less likely to get your car back if it’s stolen by a professional, and if it’s stolen by a joyrider chances are it’ll be a wreck when you do get it back. Joyriders have a very high accident rate.