Carjacking

Carjacking is car theft, but theft that goes one step further into violence. A car stolen from a parking lot or driveway has not been carjacked, it's merely been stolen. Going to find your car only to discover it missing is a horrible feeling. But a car hijacking involves being forced from your vehicle so it can be stolen.

Carjacking sometimes results in assault, if the driver or passengers are physically forced from the car or threatened with a weapon or bodily injury. Carjackers have kidnapped the car owners, forcing them to drive or remain in the stolen vehicle. Carjacking victims can be let off at another location, though sometimes tragically they're the victim of further crimes while being held by the carjacker.

Carjacking, a New Crime

Carjacking became a popular news-hour term in the 1980s when it began happening more frequently and gathering media attention. Because car-theft prevention devices became efficient, it became difficult for car thieves to steal cars. It became much easier for a would-be car thief to simply wait until the owner of the car was getting in the car, or was in traffic actually driving the car before attempting to steal it.

While car theft itself typically doesn't involve violence or threat of bodily harm because the cars are stolen in remote locations while parked, carjacking carries with it the threat of harm, with the thieves almost always carrying a deadly weapon.

Where is Carjacking More Frequent?

Carjacking occurs more often on busy city streets than anywhere else, and in commercial areas. One would think that the more highly populated areas would put you less at risk, but not so with carjacking. Carjacking also occurs frequently during the daytime, unlike many other crimes.

To lower your risk of being carjacked, be aware of your surroundings when getting in and out of your car in parking lots, at stores and shopping malls, gas stations, anywhere you park to go into a business or residence, and at drive-thru windows where your doors may be locked but your window is down, giving a carjacker easy access to you. Carjackings occur at intersections, too, when cars are stopped at red lights. Keep your car doors locked is one way to keep yourself safer from this crime.

Carjackers will also often wait until you're in a fairly remote location, then bump into your car with theirs. You should never pull over immediately in this situation. Motion for them to follow and then drive to a gas station or even a police station, somewhere many people are around and within easy shouting distance.

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