Leaving car engine on may become an offence

Dubai authorities are considering impounding any car left switched on by its owner within a strategy intended to curb burglary of vehicles in the emirate.

Police said they had made the proposal following a surge in car burglary, adding that studies showed that a large number of the thefts involved vehicles left open by their owners while the engine was on.

Police said they themselves had proved it was too easy to steal a car while it is in the operation mode when one of its cops found a car with its engine running at a petrol station while the owner went into the supermarket.

The cop simply opened the door, sat behind the wheel and drove the car to the back of the supermarket. Nearly 20 minutes later, its owner came out and got a shock when he could not find his car before calling the police.

Police then told him that his car is parked in the back of the supermarket and that he should be more careful next time as important documents were also in his car.

“This is negligence by the car owners and this is giving rise to car thefts in the emirate,” said Major General Khalil Al Mansoori, Dubai’s assistant police commander for criminal affairs. “We have made a recommendation to incriminate the victims of car burglaries in case we found that they had left their vehicles turned on.”

He told the Arabic language daily Al Bayan that the law, once enforced, would allow police men to tow away any unattended car found running. Owners would then be called by the police to come to the department for their vehicles and they will be asked to write a statement not to repeat the offence, he added.

He said the proposals also covered other victims, mainly those who fall prey to money cloning gangs. “We are punishing those who claim they can multiply money but their victims are getting away with it. The new law will incriminate those victims on charges of negligence and greediness,” he said.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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