Dallas National Insurance

HUNNEMAN: A cavalier idea

A first glance at the news release makes it look as if our region got off easy.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau ---- I know that sounds like a made-up name, but it does exist ---- is out with a new survey on car theft.

While California is the car rip-off capital of the country ---- it's not even a close competition ---- the Riverside/San Bernardino region doesn't get a mention in the press release the crime bureau put out last week.

That's why we go inside the numbers.

Preliminary figures from the FBI indicate car thefts dropped about 7.2 percent across the country in 2010, down from the almost 800,000 cars that were boosted in 2009.

However, that's not the case in California, which leads the way in folks saying "Hey, has anybody seen my car?"

The NICB merged population figures with the number of cars stolen to rank the 366 Metropolitan Statistical Areas across the country.

Eight of the top 10 communities in America for stolen vehicles are in the Golden State.

Fresno is the statistical car theft capital of America, with 812 vehicles swiped for every 100,000 residents. In raw numbers, 7,559 cars, trucks, tractors and whatever else they drive in Fresno were stolen in 2010.

Modesto was second (754 thefts per 100,000 folks) and Bakersfield (670 per 100,000) was third.

What this really means is, if you find yourself traveling through the Central Valley, don't go inside the mini-mart to get a soda while your gas tank is filling up.

Rounding out the Top 10 ---- the Vallejo-Fairfield region was fifth, Sacramento sixth, Stockton seventh, Visalia eighth and San Francisco ninth.

Only Spokane, Wash. and Yakima, Wash. kept the Golden State from a clean sweep of the Top 10.

But those places are up north.

What about us in Southern California, the car capital of the world?

It isn't much better here.

Neighboring San Diego ranks 15th in stolen rides (461 per 100,000), the Riverside/San Bernardino/Ontario region (that's us) is 21st (432 per 100,000) and Los Angeles is 23rd (417 per 100,000).

The raw numbers are even more alarming.

The Riverside/San Bernardino area had 18,269 car thefts in 2010. That puts us 10th overall behind Los Angeles (53,464) Chicago (33,172), New York (29,189), Houston (22,826) San Francisco (22,617), Dallas (21,963), Detroit (20,955), Atlanta (20,056) and Miami (19,572).

I've never had my car ---- wait, let me look out the window ---- swiped.

Dallas National Car Insurance Review

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