Car Safety Tips (Redbook)

Image by José Goulão via Flickr

(The following story was published in Redbook in early 1993.)

By Bob Andelman

Car safety in the '90s means a lot more than seat belts and air bags. These days, getting in an accident may be the least of your worries.

Tiffany Cantue, 22, had just strapped her 13-month-old son into the back seat of her Chevy Camaro, put her keys in the ignition and was closing the car door when the Portland, Oregon, manicurist dropped something. As she reached under the car to pick it up, a man pushed her to the ground. The thief drove off with the car, unknowingly taking Cantue's son, Diont-e (CQ), along for the ride.

"I ran for two blocks chasing him," she says. Cantue's faith never flagged that Diont-e would be returned to her, and he was. The car - with her son safe inside - was found unharmed 12 hours later.

Pamela Basu was less fortunate.

The 34-year-old Savage, Maryland, research chemist was taking her 2-year-old to day care when two men forced their way into her unlocked car at a stop sign. As they pushed her out from the driver's seat, Basu became entangled in the seat belt. The suspects dragged her alongside the vehicle for two miles. They left the baby by the side of the road, still in its car seat. Then they shook Basu loose by driving along a barbed-wire fence.

The baby survived; the mother didn't.

Basu's violent death - the U.S.'s most notorious carjacking incident - directly influenced the passage of a federal anti-carjacking bill. It sets stringent penalties for carjacking - a hybrid crime which generally combines armed robbery with grand theft auto - including a mandatory 15-year jail sentence for the crime and a life term if the crime resulted in a death. Unfortunately for Basu's case, laws such as this one can't be applied retroactively. The FBI estimates that by the end of 1992 there were four pending federal carjacking cases.

It's a practical thing for most people to have a car. You need one to get to work, handle the kids, get things done in your life. The idea of being physically ripped out of the driver's seat is unsettling. But in many cities, even some rural areas, it's an abrupt and recurring slap of reality.

"People have to rethink the way they behave in their cars," says Lt. Bob Martin of the New York City Police Department's auto crime division. "People are going to have to protect themselves in their cars just as they protect themselves walking the streets."

The FBI has no reliable figures on carjacking yet, or even on car-related crimes committed against women. But public anxiety as a result of the Basu case and other regional incidents has heightened awareness of the potential dangers. Using a random comparison of cities, carjackings are down slightly in New York City, while up in Atlanta from one every two days in 1991 to one a day in 1992. But car crimes in New York tend to be violent, while in Atlanta it is unusual for anyone to be seriously injured during a carjacking. And it's not just a big-city crime, as women changing their driving habits in suburban communities across the Northeast can attest.

So prevalent is carjacking in some areas that women are curtailing evening activities or drastically changing their routines.

"I won't run an errand at night. It's too creepy," says Carol Burger, 32, a government economist who lives in Alexandria, Va. "If I plan things out, there's no reason for me to run errands after dark."

Women have long known the dangers of driving alone, from the potential for being assaulted in deserted parking lots and garages to being taken advantage of when their car breaks down. But 1992 added several new wrinkles to the safety concerns of motorists.

Katherine Calleja, 29, was driving her car through Tampa, Florida, with the windows down. "This man jumped out in front of me and I slammed on my brakes," says the mother of two. The man - who often begged for food or money on a nearby street corner - was unharmed and approached Calleja. "I thought he was coming to the car to tell me he was okay. Then I saw the syringe in his hand. He said, 'Give me your purse or I'll inject you!' I put my hand in my pocket to give him money but he started jabbing me. After I gave him the money, he ran."

The man pierced Calleja's arm six times. She took the AIDS medication AZT for a month as a precaution and takes monthly blood tests to learn whether she was infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The experience changed her life.

"Before I got this car," she says, "my windows were always down. Now when I'm coming off an interstate and I come to a stop, I make sure my doors are locked, my windows are closed. And I'll move to an inside lane from the outside. I look everywhere. I don't drive at night anymore. And this didn't even happen at night."

On the highways of Tennessee, 12 women with red hair have been slain since 1983. The latest, former nun Vickie Sue Metzger, 40, was driving from Indiana to a workshop in Atlanta on I-24 when she stopped at the Monteagle rest area and was strangled, possibly by a restroom attendant. Her body was found in the woods nearby. Police believe Metzger's death was coincidental to that of the previous 11 women, many of whom were prostitutes or hitchhikers, whose bodies were left by the side of the road after being killed. One was pregnant.

"Since this happened, I've had a lot of women tell me they felt threatened on the interstate," says Grundy County, Tennessee, Sheriff's Investigator Roy Sain. Many women report being robbed at Tennessee highway rest stops while using toilets. "A woman was raped on the interstate by a hitchhiker. She just finished fixing a flat when this fella pulled a knife, dragged her into the countryside and raped her."

And in Jacksonville, Florida, 20 incidents of gunfire and rock-throwing along I-295 led the American Automobile Association to issue an unusual three-week national travel alert warning drivers to avoid the highway after a sniper shot and severely injured motorist Debra Lewis in July 1992.

Lewis, 37, an accounting technician and mother of three, doesn't remember the attack itself but she lives with the physical and emotional horror of it every day. A single, small-caliber bullet severed an artery in her neck, fractured two vertebrae, damaged her left vocal cord and caused permanent deafness in her left ear.

"When they had somebody arrested, I began traveling a little bit," she says. "But since they let them go, I have to have somebody take me. When I get near 295, I start shaking all over." No matter what route she takes, the interstate stands between Lewis and her job.

These incidents aside, carjacking is still the most likely crime to be perpetrated against women in their automobiles.

In many parts of the country, carjacking is a high performance form of mugging. The thief forces you from your vehicle, steals your purse or wallet, then drives off. Police often find the abandoned, ransacked car a few miles away. But in major metropolitan areas, the object of the carjacking is typically the car itself.

Everything from Mercedes Benzes and Porsches to four-wheel-drive vehicles are being smuggled overseas to Third World countries. "Auto theft is a tremendous moneymaker. The five major mafia families are all involved in it. The thieves will take the car and they won't harm or take anything from the victim" if resale is the goal, according to Lt. Martin. "The robber doesn't want to damage the car. He's not going to fire a weapon. He wants it in perfect condition. "

Less dramatic - and less violent - crimes include incidents in which car thieves bump into the back of a moving car and then steal it when the driver pulls over to inspect the damage. Similarly, in "Good Samaritan" cases, someone will pull up alongside a driver and point out an imaginary busted headlight, open gas cap or flat tire.

"Your natural reaction is to get out, go to the back of the car and take a look," says FBI Special Agent Stephen Markardt. "If someone brings to your attention a vehicle defect, don't pull over, don't get out. As long as they didn't cause the situation, getting out further down the road at a gas station isn't going to make a difference." Markardt says if something does happen and you absolutely must get out, take the car keys with you. Otherwise you may be watching your tail lights fade into the distance.

Men impersonating police officers in Atlanta caused a brief panic when they pulled women drivers to the side of the road at night and assaulted them. With blue lights flashing and men in official-looking uniforms, who can tell the good guys from the bad?

"If you're not sure," says Lt. James H. Cofield, commander of the Atlanta Police Department's robbery squad, "drive slowly to a lighted area. Most police officers will understand you are being cautious."

Nancy Norvell, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist at the University of South Florida in Tampa, works with women who have been victims of violent crimes. She says that a mistake a woman might make is changing her habits only for the short haul instead of making long-term safety changes.

"The more active you can be in your coping, the more likely it is to affect your mood," Norvell says. "You can stay at home, but then you'll worry about home invasions. I go out, but I keep my eyes open. I always have my Mace. I have power locks. I have a cellular phone and a keyless entry alarm that also has a panic button. I always look around when I get out of the car. You have to be fairly assertive. I'll look somebody in the eye. Don't act like you don't notice them. If anything, that's more inviting - you'll look like a victim. I don't live in fear, I just think safety. It's a lot more positive approach."

There are many things you can do to be and feel safer in and around your car:

o Always keep your doors locked and your windows up. Don't skimp on the extra cost for air conditioning when you buy a car; it is now a security feature.

o Be aware of activity around your car. Scan your surroundings before getting in or out.

o In traffic, maintain larger spaces between you and the vehicle in front of you. Have an escape route ready if someone threatening approaches you.

o Stay in the center lane when possible. It makes it harder to get at you. And everyone can see you.

o If you have a choice between a highway and a short-cut through a rough neighborhood, stick to the highway.

o If someone suspicious approaches you, drive away. Don't open your door and don't roll down your window and ask what they want.

o Park in well-lighted areas.

o If you see someone loitering near your car as you approach it, go for help.

o Separate your car keys from your other keys. This advice is also good when you use valet parking.

o Keep your wallet or purse somewhere other than on the seat beside you.

o Honk your horn if you are being threatened.

o If you must use a pay phone at night, look for "Phone From Car" signs. These uniquely designed pay phones, which originated in the northeast states for use during inclement weather and are now spreading south, allow you to make calls without leaving your vehicle.
o Don't leave the vehicle's title or registration - or anything else with your name or address - in the car.

o Keep your gas tank full.

o If you are being followed, don't go home or to your hotel. It's not a safe haven from someone bold enough to follow your car for miles. Seek out the nearest police, fire or gas station.

o Keep a "Please Call Police" sign in your car for use in highway breakdowns. And if at all possible, stay in your car with the doors locked while waiting for official help.

o If someone points a gun at you, don't resist. The car can be replaced. You can't.

"If all else fails and you become a victim," says Det. Steven Calarco of the Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Dept.'s auto theft division, "give them what they want. And do the best you can to get a good description of the suspect."
* * *

Sometimes, if trouble is going to find you on the road, it may be unavoidable. But for women traveling alone, there are several gadgets that can increase your personal safety in the event your car breaks down, is parked in a dark area or if you feel in danger and need to call for help.

Here are a few examples:

o Install a cellular phone in your car. The cost of owning and operating cellular phones is becoming more affordable. Most cellular phone companies offer "security" plans to people who don't need a car phone for business, just peace of mind. For example, infrequent cellular users might pay a lower monthly rate - $29.95 per month versus as much as $99.95 - and a higher per minute rate for air time - 70 cents versus 36 cents - to have access to cellular service in an emergency. Many companies even offer 24-hour emergency road services to their customers, such as GTE Mobilnet's "Mr. Rescue."

"It gives a lot of people a sense of security when they can get in touch with somebody right away," says Lt. James H. Cofield of the Atlanta police. "It's a lot better than getting out of the car at a pay phone."

That was the situation of a Tampa woman who went searching for her teenage daughter at a city beach after dark. Although she found her daughter, she also found trouble: the men her daughter was partying with didn't want the women to leave. They surrounded the woman's car, making threatening gestures. One had a gun. The woman used her cellular phone to call police. They sent a helicopter to disburse the men with a spotlight and followed up with several police cars.

If money is not a concern, consider a pocket-size cellular phone ($300-$1,000). It will fit inside your purse and provide up to an hour of continuous talk time or eight hours of standby, handy in the car or anyone else you need to call for help.

o Keyless entry systems offering remote or keypad locks are available as add-on features for most automobiles. In addition to providing added security against car thieves, these systems can also help you find your car in the dark and alert you if someone is lurking around the vehicle. A remote control device can turn on the car's inside lights and headlights from a distance of 50 to 100 feet away. It can also sound the car's alarm from a distance, as well as lock and unlock your doors.

o A new device called "The Posse" ($299, plus annual service charge, 800-551-0186) might come in handy if you are a carjacking victim. After the crime takes place, you go to the nearest phone, dial a toll-free number and tell the operator what happened. In 30 seconds, the car will receive a telephone pager-like signal to flash the lights, sound the car horn and a special siren. Then it prevents the engine from being restarted.

Not all remote-controlled devices work the same way.

"Be sure the system becomes operable when you're not around," says Jerry Cheske, spokesman for the American Automobile Association. "Otherwise, it may agitate the thief and he could take it out on you."

o Flat tires are the bane of any driver's existence. But sometimes you have to change a tire. What if you have no spare? Or what if the spare is flat, too?

STP Flat Fixer ($3.99) and Puncture Seal ($1.99) eliminate tire changing on the road without resorting to tools or tire jacks. Fit the nozzle to your tire's inflation stem and in less than a minute it will temporarily seal a leak and inflate your tire to 20 pounds pressure. If you don't drive any faster than 20 mph, it should get you to help.

o Weapons such as Mace and other eye and skin irritants are not endorsed or recommended by law enforcement officials. Even the distributor of DYEWitness ($19.95, 800-626-0770) - a seven-day green stain that cannot be washed off and causes temporary blindness - is careful in his assessment of its application.

"You have to look at the situation," says Tony Greene, president of Nepote/Greene Distribution. "Does the assailant have a gun? If he does, you don't want to use it."

However, because they know some people will carry these products anyhow, their advice is simple and direct. First, know what is legal in your community; Mace, for example, is illegal in New York City. Don't be a victim of a crime and be arrested yourself for carrying an illegal, concealed weapon.

"And if you have something to defend yourself with, you need to know how to use it," says the FBI's Markardt. "People buy all kinds of things and they throw them in a bag. Then, when the time comes to use it, they're fumbling for it and it gets used against them."

Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!