Lone female drivers targeted at traffic lights

I just spotted this story in the Manchester Evening News

A victim of a very worrying incident, Cala Grant, was stopped at traffic lights in the Offerton area of Stockport when two Asian men in their 20s tried to get into her car. Fortunately her car doors were locked so she sped off through a red light and almost had an accident in the process. The newspaper report tells us that she was very shaken by the event and I’m not surprised.  For those of you who live locally the incident occurred near the Britannia Hotel, Dialstone Lane, on Monday at 7.45pm.

The above follows a similar and frightening incident which occurred on 2^nd May at 7.10pm in nearby Heaviley. In this case the female driver was stopped at lights at the junction of Nangreave Road and Windermere Road when three men surrounded the car. One stood in front to stop her driving forward whilst the other two tried the car doors. Once again the doors were locked, so they couldn’t get in and she was able to drive off.

The newspaper reports further incidents nearby, which must be a real concern for local people there.

The police have appealed for witnesses, so please call them on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 if you can help.

Comment

The report does not tell us why these men were trying to get into the car. That is not a criticism as it is impossible for them to know. One suspects they were probably trying to steal her handbag or the car or both or maybe it was a mobile phone on the seat or perhaps there was another more insidious reason; we just don’t know.

One thing is for sure though. All of us should make sure that when we drive off our car doors are locked. This happens automatically on new cars; you can hear the ‘click’ as you move away at about 5mph, but older cars require you to either press the central locking button on the dash or physically push down the buttons on the doors.

This is not the first time I’ve raised this important crime prevention matter and you’ll see that locking doors is mentioned in my various checklists in my section entitled Reducing theft from vehicles  Neighbourhood Watches might like to refer to the link in their newsletters.

Take care when driving and especially when you are stopped at traffic lights!  

Manchester Evening News http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/lone-female-drivers-warned-group-13019681