Don’t forget to lock the car

Here’s a public safety tip you don’t hear every day: Lock your car when you leave it unoccupied with valuables inside in plain sight.

You might think that’s a given. It doesn’t usually top the list of ways to avoid a car break-in. Usually the first tip is don’t leave your valuables in plain sight.

Apparently some people do not lock their cars as a matter of habit. Here’s part of a news release police in Auburn, Ala., sent Monday:

“The vast majority of auto burglaries in Auburn occur from unlocked vehicles. Simply locking one’s vehicle would likely prevent three out of every four auto burglaries. No items of value including purses, wallets, cell phones, money and particularly firearms should be left in a vehicle. The Police Division encourages citizens to lock all vehicles and report suspicious persons and activity by calling 911. Remember: Lock it or Lose it.”

Alabama football fans may make jokes about clueless Auburn motorists, because of this, but even the most crime-conscious driver can forget to lock a car.

It happens when you’re going around getting stuff from different places — front passenger’s side, trunk, rear passenger’s side, etc.

For example, let’s say you hit the grocery store in a four-door sedan and stock up for a week, so you wind up with groceries in the trunk and in the seats and floorboards, and when you get home, you open everything up and make several trips unloading.

And maybe, as you haul that last bag inside, you forget to hit the lock button, possibly because you didn’t have a free finger to tap it with.

That’s one way you can forget to lock a car, but that’s more of a “when you get home” situation.

“When you get there” to shop is another situation to consider, because of the first safety tip about not leaving valuables in plain sight.

It turns out putting all your pricey stuff in the trunk when you park at a shopping center isn’t always a good idea, either.

That’s because any thieves already scoping the parking lot will see you do that, and know you have something so valuable you had to put it in the trunk before you walked away, possibly forgetting to lock your car.

They might figure that’s reason enough to break into your car to look for switch that opens the trunk.

So, just as “Lock It Or Lose It” is a good slogan for remembering to lock your car, “Stop And Stowe It” can help you remember to put stuff in the trunk before you reach your destination and leave your car unguarded with all that valuable stuff in it.

It’s best to move stuff to the trunk as you leave one stop for the next, but if you forget to do that up front, you can stop on the way and do it. And if you forget to do that until you get there, you might even consider going somewhere else, moving stuff to the trunk, and then coming back.

That way you won’t get so preoccupied moving stuff around that you forget to lock the car.

This story was originally published February 1, 2017 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Don’t forget to lock the car."