The AnyTrack Blog

How Likely is Your Vehicle to be Stolen? 2008 Hot Wheels Study Lists Most Frequently Stolen Vehicles of 2007

The National Insurance Crime Bureau's (NICB)  has released Hot Wheels 2008, which examines data reported to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) to determine the vehicle make, model, and model year most reported stolen in 2007.

For 2007, the most stolen cars and trucks in the nation were:

1	1995 Honda Civic
2	1991 Honda Accord
3	1989 Toyota Camry
4	1997 Ford F-150 Series Pickup
5	1994 Chevrolet C/K 1500 Pickup
6	1994 Acura Integra
7	2004 Dodge Ram Pickup
8	1994 Nissan Sentra
9	1988 ToyotaPickup
10	2007 Toyota Corolla

Thieves target older vehicles because they provide the best market for stolen vehicle parts. The report adds that locking your car and taking your keys is the first line of defense against theft.

Source: National Insurance Crime Bureau

Photo Credit: 1995 Honda Civic – HondaTuning Magazine

GPS tracking and Discounts on Auto Insurance

If you are one of those people who spend most of their time on the road, then safe and secure travel is your prime concern, hence you should consider a GPS tracking system in your vehicle. Automobile manufacturers, consumers, and especially parents are realizing the importance of GPS tracking systems for automobile safety.

Some of the advantageous features of GPS tracking systems are as follows:

1. Many insurance companies are providing discounted car insurance rates for drivers or families who prefer to buy a vehicle that has a GPS tracking system or those who install a GPS tracking      tool after they buy the car.  Teen driver insurance is expensive, so it is more valuable to earn discounts on their insurance with a tracking system in the vehicle.
2. In case your car is stolen, the GPS tracking system enables you and police to pinpoint the precise location of your car.
3. Some GPS tracking systems offer speed alerts which discourage unsafe driving and increases fuel efficiency by driving according to speed limits.
4. A parent of a teenage driver, can have peace of mind knowing their son or daughter is in the area they were supposed to be and can be tracked in case there is an accident.

Some manufacturers of GPS systems offer the GPS tracking unit in miniature size and built in batteries for moving the device between different vehicles and concealing in a vehicle. Some, such as the AnyTrack GPS-100 come with a cigarette lighter adapter for charging up the battery. The newer tracking systems provide an online tracking service so the vehicle can be located from a PC at home or work.

If there is theft of the vehicle, the GPS tracking system may be able to give you the exact location of your stolen vehicle. Insurance companies offer real good discounts for GPS unit installed vehicles, due to the low-risk factor of theft and high probability of recovery.

Many auto insurance companies offer low-mileage discounts to car owners. A GPS system tracks mileage and serves as proof that the car owner is entitled to a low mileage insurance discount. 

So, get a GPS tracking unit installed in your vehicle, earn low-mileage insurance discounts and reap the benefits of peace of mind.

Teen Driver Auto Accidents and GPS Tracking

Did you know that most of the teenager deaths in the US are due to car accidents? Each year, more than 5,000 teenagers in the age group of 16 to 21 years died a tragic death in car crashes.

GPS tracking system is an effective and inexpensive tool for safety and security of car drivers. It helps concerned parents monitor their teenager’s driving behavior without intruding their privacy.

Teenagers are prone to motor accidents due to the following reasons:

• Lack of experience: Many of the teenager drivers do not have the experience to control difficult traffic conditions, harsh weather or bad roads.
• Excess Speed: Driving too fast and losing vehicle control is the foremost reason for fatal accidents.
• Creating Peer Impression: Whenever there are friends inside the car, the teenage driver may feel the need to impress, show off his/her driving skills or drive too fast.

These problems may be resolved by installing GPS car tracking systems. Continuous supervision with GPS tool for the initial 1 to 2 years of driving may help reduce teenage driver accident rates. Parents may not be able to drive with their children each and every time, therefore a tracking tool is the most convenient option for such parents to relax and monitor teen driving habits.

More About GPS Tracking Systems:

• Monitoring: GPS tracking systems provide complete supervision via Internet mapping and data, at the same time allowing teenagers their desired privacy.
• Detection: It is like being seated next to the driver since the GPS tracking tool can easily identify faulty driving behavior such as speed level.
• Correction: It helps the parents of teenage drivers to correct their bad driving habits and teach them to drive safely.

A GPS tracking system may also get you a discount on your son or daughter’s automobile insurance. You may get more information through various web sites related to teen driving insurance.

You may buy a GPS tracking system from online stores such as Anytrack.com.

Teenagers are often preoccupied in their own world, even when they are driving. GPS tracking systems are the safe choice for concerned parents and teenager drivers.

Why Have a Teen GPS Tracking System?

Do you wonder why responsible parents across the world are increasingly purchasing a GPS teen tracking system? Here are the reasons:

Global Positioning System or GPS technology brings forth a large number of benefits to its users all around the world. GPS teen tracking system is just one of the applications for GPS technology. It is particularly useful for parents concerned about the wellbeing and behavior of their teenage children.

Since you can't be with your children physically all the time, a child GPS tracking device is a good way to keep an eye on the location of your child. However, as they grow up, kids will surely object to keeping a GPS tracking device with them since parents can monitor their every move. Teens want freedom, but teenage drivers have the highest risk of getting involved or being injured in a traffic crash. This is the main reason why as a responsible parent, you should make use of a teen GPS tracking system. It can bring you peace of mind as you can easily track their location in case you wonder where they are or something unfortunate happens.

GPS teen tracking system also provides you with useful information, such as the routes that they took while traveling alone, the time they arrived, and the mileage or total distance covered. Moreover, if you get a real-time teen GPS tracking system, you can track the location of the car just by checking on your own secure tracking system on the Internet. With a passive teen GPS tracking system, you can only download the recorded history of the information on a computer at a later time.

So if you are worried about the physical safety and security of your children while on the road, the use of a real-time GPS teen tracking device is highly recommended. Now, the real question – should you inform your child before installing it? They might get angry, hurt, or confused if they come to know about it later on. New drivers have great responsibility and as a concerned parent, you can let them know the benefits to you and them for having a GPS tracking system.

AnyTrack GPS-100 Helps Dad Find Daughter After Car Accident

Chuck writes:

Last Wednesday, my teen daughter wanted to borrow my car to buy some sheet music.  My son decided to go along. They started to leave, but I said wait a minute and retrieved the GPS-100 that I had just recharged. Less than 10 minutes later, my daughter called from her cell phone and said she was in an accident. I switched from email to a web browser, and within one minute had the car location.

I called my wife at work and gave her the location, then said I’d meet her there...Within 10 minutes, we were at the accident site. My kids were fine, thanks to seat belts and air bags, but shook up. (My daughter rear-ended a car stopped in front of her.)  Both cars in the accident needed to be towed. 

The GPS-100 and its accurate location helped a lot in a very stressful situation.

We're very glad to hear that Chuck's family is okay!

AnyTrack customers, tell us how you use your AnyTrack GPS-100. We’ll give you 50 free locates if we share your story. Identifying information will not be used.

Vehicle Theft Prevention: Common Sense is the Best Defense

So Says WatchYourCar.org. So don’t bother hiding your keys in or on your vehicle. Thieves know all the hiding places.

Family Safety: 101 Child Safety and Childproofing Tips for Parents

According to Abel at the Parent Wonder blog, 75-90% of family tragedies can be avoided by being alert to potential safety hazards, not only in your vehicle, but in and around your home. We’ve linked to his list of 101 Child Safety and Childproofing tips to help families to do a quick safety check up.

Got some tips of your own that you’d like to share, either general tips or how you’ve used the GPS-100 to make your family safer? Send them to us at blog@anytrack.com. If we think they’ll be of interest to our readers we’ll publish them in the AnyTrack Blog.

Who Taught You to Drive? Sharpen Your Skills at BMW Performance Driving School

Here's a great way for teens to have fun while they learn advanced driving techniques that could save their life and the lives of others.

The BMW Performance Center offers One or Two Day Teen Driving Schools that put your 15-18 year old behind the wheel of a BMW X5 sport access vehicle to teach them driving skills beyond those taught in the typical driver education class. Teen drivers also get to try out the BMW 3, 5 and 7 series models to learn how to handle different vehicle dynamics. And you can relax while they practice driving someone else's $46,000+ vehicle.

For adults, the BMW Performance Center Driving Schools pair you with a professional BMW instructor who will teach  you accident avoidance maneuvers and car control. You'll hone your skills on their water wall corridor, ultra-slick skid pad, slalom course, autocross circuit and lifestyle course.

Driving enthusiasts can enroll in the pricey BMW M School where they will learn advanced performance car control techniques in BMW M Coupes, including the BMW Z4 M, and take a $99,100 BMW M5 Coupe Sedan for a spin on the Virginia International Raceway.

Don't want to pony up the bucks for the live performance driving experience? BMW has established the Relearn to Drive website to provide a virtual sample of the BMW Performance Driving School. Visit www.relearntodrive.com.

Via Beyond Madison Avenue, www.ETTF.net BMW Performance Driving School   Photos from www.bmwusa.com

Teen Driver Safety: The Secret to Getting Your Teen to Drive Safely

You preach, you plead, you nag, you threaten----all in an effort to get your teen to drive safely. You set curfews, restrict the number of passengers, supervise their whereabouts with a GPS-100 and insist they follow driving laws. So what do you do when you find out they've broken the rules?

It's critical that parents follow through on threatened consequences when expectations are not met, says Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Wallace. Formerly called Students Against Drunk Driving, the group's recently released national study of high school drivers found a substantial decrease in the number of students who say they are likely to speed (43%) versus teens who say their parents are unlikely to penalize them (68%). In addition, the study notes that just 31 percent of teens who say their parents will enforce a consequence say they drive with than three passengers in the car, compared to 60% who consider their parents "all talk and no action."

Unfortunately, the summer months are the most dangerous for young drivers. Visit www.SADD.org for more tips on helping your teen driver learn to be safer behind the wheel.