michele Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Statement of the bold & outrageous (?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest starspirit Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Oh so now I'm outrageous too am I? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Sorry Bil h ! :-D The seious Bit... http://www.thatcham.org/myvehicle/index.jsp If you visit this “Thatcham” link you can input vehicle details and it gives you a security status rating from 1 to 5 stars on all types of vehicle including vans Now, the ford in earlier and latest form comes out with 3 stars and Fiat only achieves 1 star – so maybe Terry is correct and Fiat/Peugeot are easier to pop! Other useful links: http://www.vsib.co.uk/ http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/reducing-crime/vehicle-crime/ Links will help you find local accredited alarm companies selling the same "unique” (don’t make me laugh I am trying to be serious!) alarm systems as “others” at half the price. Just had a quote for my new Ford camper: “Insurance approved Thatcham CAT 2 >1 alarm upgrade for a motorhome will be £295 which includes fitting at your home or work place. The alarm comes with ultrasonic sensors for the cab and PIR for the living area with door and locker contacts.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A W Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 To answer the original question no there are not that many but they are a dammed nuisance. Generally speaking aires de service are safe except those on motorways near the French/Spanish border. We were broken into in the middle of the night 2 years ago at Cambrils near Tarragona in Spain whilst sleeping in a seafront car park in January. We've just got back from Spain and were told about a couple who were broken into twice in 5 days.The second incident was at Roses I think and the Police said there was a local man who makes his living by doing this. Don't blame the Spanish though.The problem is that there is no welfare state in Romania so gangs of them in Spain are stealing as much as they can to send money home. Evidence of this are the numbers of prostitutes seen standing at crossroads in the middle of nowhere.At least that's what I think they are!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonB Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Its funny how the idea that not much thieving ocurrs often exists in those that have never experienced the pleasures of it happening to them. Until it does, and then it suddenly seems like a normal aspect of life, which it is. The authorities have had to close a caravan/motorhome parking area on a service station near Perpignan (even during the day) where we were 'done' some time ago, due to the amount of break in's and thieving going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carioca Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 the answers to this question is how many does it take to ruin your holiday? just bought brand new MH 3 weeks earlier travelled down to south france stopped in service station late at night , saw a area for caravans & MH thought it looked a bit isolated so parked amongst lorries & went to bed above cab. woke next morning found both mine & my wifes shorts missing. looked in cab & found passenger door unlocked, on further investigation found shorts outside minus 3 euros & door lock smashed. intruders broke into cab found ladder between seats & reached over to grab shorts presumably looking for money. resulting in me losing 3 euros in change but costing £350 for a new set of locks.were we gassed i dont think so but would have swore blind her who must be obeyed would have heard somewthing but obviously not. we now fasten front door together & set the boys bunk ladder against side door :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Do you think we are a nation of heavy sleepers ? I think I,m a light sleeper but it has not happened to us yet. I wonder if we would awake ?........its alla worry isn't it. Might never happen A. *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 carioca At least your underwear was not on back to front? I had a very troubling and similar experience that I would rather not go into on an open forum. Enough to say that I could not sit down comfortably for a number of weeks.... Do you have dead locks now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 The quickest way into almost motorhome, if robbery is your intention? Break a cab window, then unlock the door from inside. Say 5 seconds.You have webbing, or cord, connecting the two cab doors inside. Have you heard of knives? Another 5 seconds.There is an alarm. It will go off when the window is broken. Robber has three choices. 1. Look embarrased, pretend it is his van and he has accidentally triggered the alarm, enter, take what he wants, exit, shrug shoulders, pretend to phone for alarm assistance and walk off chatting animatedly on mobile. (Or variations on this theme) 2. Walk away nonchalently, but looking back as though puzzled. Wait at distance to see if 7th cavalry arrive. When they do not, return, pretend to be owner just discovering break in, enter to check what has gone, pocket what is available and proceed as in 1. (Or variations on that theme)3. Just move away to the next van and try again. (That is the variation to this theme)Would the alarm frighten him/her off? Possibly, but have you ever noticed how many people rush up when a vehicle alarm goes off? What's to be afraid of, really?Who are the robbers? Never nationals of the country you're in, for a start. Kosovans, Albanains, Macedonians, Gypsies, Estonians, Latvians, in fact almost any foreigners who are, for one reason or another, unpopular in the country you happen to be in. Of course, everyone knows its them!Of course the risk of robbery is real, but it is greatly exacerbated by stopping around popular tourist areas or on busy holiday routes, with obviously tourist type transport - more so if foreign registered - and seeking out those nice, cheap, unsupervised parking spots.If you were the thief, where would you go looking for your "clients"? Not along the plethora of secondary roads, or around the minor towns (where you might stand out); you might wait all day for a single punter. No, you'd head for where there are crowds/traffic to get lost in, where there are lots of potential victims to choose among and target, for where tired people congregate in locations without too much supervision. Motorway rest areas, town fringe long stay car parks, resort car parkings, coast road "back of the beach" parkings etc etc. Under almost any circumstances, because he will have a headstart and knows where he is going, the thief will escape faster than he can be pursued, and is likely to have worked how to do so beforehand.The danger, otherwise, is just being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and attracting the passing local "casual" thief. That, unfortunately, can happen almost anywhere.The ones who give me the greatest concern, because what they do and how they behave is liable to be desperate and completely irrational, are the mentally unstable and the addicts of one kind or another. Fortunately, they are fairly rare and so not our greatest problem. That's good, because there's no real defence against them, but making sure the cab doors have secondary locks that can't easily be released through a broken cab window seems a good start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Heki roof windows really worry me. They are so weakly secured they can be forced upwards with one hand. And with a roof ladder… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Amozon does not seem to list stun guns >:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrytraveller Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 Successful thieves can get promoted and a free house in Downing Street. http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax/ http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Motorhome/ If you want to keep these links up front, might be a good idea to include them on any of our posts - what do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globetrotter Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 Interesting that Frank hasnt yet answered my question-what is a SOTBO? (His term, I might add.) The clue might well be in my post and his answer, but lets assume for a minute that we arent all crossword experts. Frank-what is a SOTBO ? I ask, because I assume (Maybe wrongly) that this "mystery" is a way of you casting scorn upon another persons views on a stated matter. You seem to do this a lot........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 JudgeMental - 2007-02-02 9:09 PM colin - 2007-02-02 8:42 PM Now if only you had one of those South Afican flame throwers, you wouldn't have needed to chase them, just sweep away the ash's Have you a link for me Colin for this interesting sounding piece of kit? mind you don't want to singe the dog - his not mine don’t you know! http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9812/11/flame.thrower.car/ Sounds good to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 (>) Its a Statement of the bleeding obvious. There hope that helps ;-) I think you assume wrongly (said in the nicest way of course) ;-) *-) . Leave me out of it. Please........I don't want to die young. *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globetrotter Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Thanks Michele for clarifying that for me. I would add that far from stating the "Bleeding obvious", I was standing up for the vast majority of good and decent young people in our society. It is all too easy, particularly for certain reactionary sectors of the public, to tar them all with "Young punk" or similar terms. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Globetrotter - 2007-02-05 10:02 AM Thanks Michele for clarifying that for me. I would add that far from stating the "Bleeding obvious", I was standing up for the vast majority of good and decent young people in our society. It is all too easy, particularly for certain reactionary sectors of the public, to tar them all with "Young punk" or similar terms. Thanks again. Well said John ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Globetrotter - 2007-02-02 2:22 PM Not all criminals are young, and the young are not all criminals........... *-) Globetrotter you are welcome .... now remember leave me out of this . I don't think Frank was trying to be rude he was just trying to say basically (I THINK) he agrees with you ............... Not all the criminals are young ,and not all the young are criminals..... SOTBO . If you get my drift ... *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philman Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Was it Monty Python (?) (?) Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancer Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 SOTBO?? Good one! I always liked SNAFU and FUBAR. Seems to apply to almost any government or agency set up for 'our own good' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Snafu & Fubar ? What's that when it's at home . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancer Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Situation Normal All Fxxxxd Up. Fxxxxd Up Beyond All Recognition. Slightly ruder than SOTBO I guess, American army acronyms originally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Oh will it not be lady like if I say BRILLIANT..... FUBAR . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancer Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Michele. Say it with a straight face, and smile sweetly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Our Labrador, Cassie is our burglar alarm, thief deterrant, and if she catches them, Judge/Jury/and also dishes out the punishment. She is normally as calm and as nice as pie onsite,but once we go to bed and she settles down,she is alert to any unfamiliar noise outside,her warning starts with a low growl gradually building up to a full grown barking and snarling,unless she is calmed with quiet 'ok girl' from us. I also put her metal food bowl outside the door in full view,just to let 'Them out there' know that there is a 'Dog' on guard inside. Well; one night Cassie growls, i listen ,hear nothing so i say 'ok girl' we all go back to sleep. When we get up and look outside Cassie is minus one metal feeding bowl...... some toe-rag nicked it. (not an urban myth !!) Moral: if she growls I ALWAYS go to the door and check. YES, there are a LOT of thieves About. >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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