●SAS: Who Dares Wins star and dash cam manufacturer Nextbase partner to alert drivers to better protect their vehicles when left unattended.

●Jason Fox and his team of Carpark Guardians illustrate the protection that new technologies can offer motorists and their vehicles.

●Borehamwood Shopping Park is the location for Britain’s Safest Carpark, protected by the crack team of specialists.

●Campaign kicks off the launch of the new Nextbase iQ, the world’s first truly smart connected dash cam, which effectively does the job of an entire security team.

●Just 6.9% of car thefts and 5.3% of thefts of items from a car during 2019-2022 resulted in anyone being charged or summoned to court.

London. Star of SAS: Who Dares Wins and UK Special Forces soldier and Royal Marine Commando Jason “Foxy” Fox has joined forces with British dash cam manufacturer Nextbase to help people better protect their vehicles. Together they created Britain’s Safest Carpark at the Borehamwood Shopping Park, where parked vehicles were protected by a team of security experts led by Foxy.

On the day, shoppers at Borehamwood – one of the busiest retail car parks in the country -had the chance to have their cars guarded by Foxy and the Carpark Guardian team. This high level of security is now offered by the new Nextbase iQ, the world’s first truly smart connected Dash Cam, which replicates having your very own security task force when you go shopping.

Jason Fox commented, “These days, you can never be too over cautious about your car when you leave it parked. Scratches, bangs, dents caused by other drivers, careless trolley users, vandals and thieves is what you are up against in safeguarding the look and value of one of your most expensive possessions.”

“We Brits love our cars, and for most of us, they are our pride and joy. We really depend on our cars for day to day life and we don’t want anything to get in the way of our cars. We get frustrated when we return to find something wrong – a scratch, a dent – or even go back to our space to find the car isn’t there. This is why Nextbase dash cams are so great – they offer the same protection as me and the Car Park Guardians – 24/7, and with the ability to monitor your car wherever you are in the world.”

Nextbase research found that there were 396,000 car-related crimes recorded between 2019 and 2022, with only 6.7% resulting in a charge or summons. 69% of these crimes go unsolved because a suspect could not be identified. This means that hundreds of thousands of thefts of a vehicle and thefts from a vehicle currently go completely unresolved.

The new iQ range of dash cams can bring that kind of in-person protection one step closer by working like a smart home security device for cars. Alerts can be set for when anyone touches the vehicle, sending live footage to the user’s smartphone, and even allows them to talk through the dash cam itself – wherever they are in the world.

Bryn Brooker, head of road safety at Nextbase, commented, “We enlisted Foxy to embody the security that new dash cam technologies can offer the public. Every day in Britain, cars are damaged, broken into or stolen, so we focused our attention on Borehamwood Shopping Park, a highly busy and somewhat typical retail park carpark, to show shoppers the protection we can offer for their second most valuable asset.”

“New smart iQ dash cams are always-alert and will immediately record an incident if your vehicle is touched, sending the footage to the cloud immediately, meaning even if the thief disposes of the camera the footage is safely backed up.”

Nextbase’s Bryn Brooker also has offered the following advice to help drivers keep their cars safe.

1.Lock your car doors. It might seem obvious, but a stunning 47% of cars that are stolen from are unlocked. This suggests a lot of this theft is opportunistic – thieves trying car doors until they find a locked one. And it isn’t just thefts from cars – 14% of all cars stolen were themselves unlocked. So before you leave your car – especially overnight – double check you’ve locked it. Don’t rely on your car “auto-locking” from you walking away.

2.Make sure your key is safe. “Keyless cars” might seem impossible to steal, but since they allow people to open doors and start the engine without turning a key they are often easier for a thief to steal using “relay theft”. Doing so involves replicating the signal from the fob on your car keys – essentially tricking your car into thinking your fob is right beside it. This method now accounts for over a third of all car thefts, and is the most common method of entry for those who steal entire cars***.

This is far easier for criminals if you keep your car keys near to your car – say on the window of your house with your car parked right on the street. Keeping your keys further away from any windows or walls will help with this. You can also buy a small “faraday pouch” for a few pounds that will totally block the signal.

3.Park safely. Most car thefts happen on weekday nights – when it’s dark and there aren’t many people around. Most attempted thefts happen to cars parked either on the street (46%) or in a semi-private space like a drive (41%). If you can, park your car in a garage connected to your house. If not favour somewhere well-lit.

This common sense should extend to what you leave in your car while parked. A valuable item left in plain sight – like a laptop or purse on the back seat – will increase the chances of someone attempting to break into your car.

4.Buy a dash cam. Visible cameras do a lot to deter thieves, especially when the next car along doesn’t have one. Our latest dash cams will turn on and start recording when any movement is detected. All of this acts as a great deterrent for thieves.

5.Buy a steering wheel lock. Car thieves are going to go for the easiest target that can make them the most money. An inexpensive steering wheel lock won’t stop the most determined of car thieves, who might have an angle grinder to get through one, but they will stop a lot of them, as they make taking off in the car a far longer and riskier process. They aren’t pretty – but they’ll help!

For further information, contact:

Henry Cooke – Brazil (PR agency for Nextbase)

e: nextbase@agencybrazil.com t: +44 (0) 20 7785 7383

Notes for editors: Data was extracted from an FOI request to the Home Office, which covered all territorial police forces in England and Wales. Greater Manchester, Humberside, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands failed to respond to the FOI and have been sent separate requests. Data for Northern Ireland was inserted from a separate FOI request. FOI requests have been sent to the forces who failed to reply. Police Scotland uses a different system that makes like-for-like comparisons impossible.

The offences in question were Theft of a Motor Vehicle, Theft from a Motor Vehicle, and Interference with a Motor Vehicle.

Regional breakdowns of the data are available on request.

Car theft stats also drawn from: ONS: Nature of crime: vehicle-related theft.

About Nextbase

Forward-thinking Nextbase is a market-leader in connected car technology. The company commits to making a positive impact on people’s journeys and lives through its cutting-edge safety, security and smart innovations. The company is the largest smart Dash Cam brand in the world and the market’s prime mover, holding an over-80% share of the UK market by volume (GfK) and significant market shares in the USA and Europe. Sales of Dash Cams have increased by 850% in the past 4 years, making it one of the fastest-growing consumer tech sectors in the world. Nextbase smart Dash Cams have received widespread critical acclaim including several Which? Best Buy awards and awards from the likes of Sunday Times, The Daily Mail, The Independent, Driving.co.uk, Auto Express, What Car?, Honest John, Tech Advisor and T3.

For more Nextbase product information visit: http://www.nextbase.co.uk

Or follow Nextbase on Twitter: @NextbaseUK.

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