Bait Car program may save insurers money

Insurers may soon see a decrease in auto theft claims as recent initiatives by B.C. police take flight, right along with criminals in the act. According to media reports, lower mainland B.C. police have implemented a fleet of ‘bait cars,’ which were employed about a year ago to fight the auto theft epidemic.According to reports, this initiative has resulted in a 15% (or 2,000 vehicles) reduction of car thefts and aided in the imprisonment of repeat offenders. Insurance for each stolen vehicle is set at $4,500 therefore, police report the bait cars offer an estimated savings of $9 million.The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia says it has spent about $3 million since 2002 on the Vancouver pilot project and the expanded bait-car program across the lower mainland.Currently, only the Halton police force has kept the bait car program in use. Although a number of GTA (greater Toronto area) forces were, at one point, using the system, budget restraints forced the programs closure. The most recent development in the “hook, line and sinker” program is the launch of www.baitcar.com – a website that airs crooks in the hot seat during the attempted theft of a ‘bait car.”Bait cars’ are equipped with cameras, satellite tracking systems and ignition controls that aid police at catching are using ‘bait cars’ equipped with video, satellite tracking to catch thieves in the act. The mechanics behind are as follows – a camera, hidden in the passenger seat, records the crime in action; a police car is alerted by bait dispatchers and picks up the trail of the stolen vehicle; and, a global positioning system and camera monitor the ensuing events allowing the monitors to cut the ignition at any given moment. Bait-car regulations follow that ignitions are to be disabled if a thief tries to elude police or drives erratically, inducing risk. Other legal requirements for a bait car include, for example, the necessity to post signs of the presence of a bait car in a mall parking lot. Minneapolis instigated the bait-car program and subsequently saw theft drop by 40% between ’97 and ’99.