Spokespeople for both brands said their cars are compliant with federal regulations. Hyundai Motors chose not to include immobilizers on some 9 million of its cheaper models sold over the last decade, even as it did install them in cars where it was legally required to do so. But only 26 percent of Kias and Hyundais did. If you don’t count Kias and Hyundais, 96 percent of new cars in the US in model year 2015 had immobilizers, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. They also make it much more expensive to replace your car key if you lose it.īut even without the requirement, almost every automaker has an immobilizer as standard equipment on their cars. While immobilizers aren’t perfect, they have been shown to cut down on the number of vehicle thefts. Those regulations include theft prevention measures, but immobilizers aren’t one of them, which is a departure from many other countries where they are mandated, including Canada. The US has certain safety regulations that every automobile sold and operated here must follow (with a few exceptions). In some cases, their cars were recovered, only to be stolen again. And thousands of people have had to deal with the enormous inconvenience and expense that comes with their car being stolen. Hyundai has already agreed to pay up to $200 million to settle one class action lawsuit, but still faces lawsuits from insurers and cities, with possibly more to come. Reckless driving of the stolen cars has resulted in injuries and deaths, and the cars have also been used to commit other crimes. While Hyundai and Kia scramble to fix the problem with software upgrades and steering wheel lock giveaways, the Kia Challenge is causing financial and physical harm on a mass scale: The numbers of stolen Kia and Hyundais have increased by triple and even quadruple percentages in some areas. Some social media challenges are fun and harmless. A “Kia Challenge” to steal cars and post the results on platforms like TikTok and Instagram spread, too. They became known as “Kia Boys.”īy the next year, Kia and Hyundai thefts spiked all over the country, as videos showing how to steal the cars spread. ![]() These were not sophisticated thieves stealing cars to strip and sell for parts. Videos began to surface on social media of young people joyriding in these cars, speeding and swerving, sometimes hanging out of windows. In 2021, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reported a significant increase in car thefts, the majority of the cars stolen being Kias and Hyundais, and a lot of the suspected thieves being too young to drive. The immobilizer-free Kias and Hyundais could be stolen in a matter of seconds with just a screwdriver and a charging cord. As it happens, USB plugs fit pretty well over that rectangle. For cars without immobilizers, all thieves have to do is rip off the steering column cover, remove the ignition cylinder, and turn the rectangular nub behind it to start the engine. Starting with model year 2011, Hyundai Motors, which makes Kias and Hyundais, decided not to install a theft prevention mechanism called an immobilizer in certain makes and models. Teens’ desire to go viral is just one of the factors that has led to an exponential increase in Kia and Hyundai thefts across the country. “I heard my video went viral too,” he said. The documentary was a hit on YouTube, and shortly after it was posted, someone called a police tip line and gave them Hughes’s name.Īmong the evidence against Hughes was a call he placed from jail, where he seemed to brag about how many people saw him driving the stolen car. The Kia Boys often joyride around in the stolen cars, usually driving dangerously and usually filming themselves doing it. ![]() But Hughes appeared in a documentary about the so-called “Kia Boys,” who take advantage of an exploit that makes certain Kia and Hyundai models easy to steal. ![]() After all, he lives in Milwaukee, where just 11 percent of reported car thefts resulted in an arrest in 2021 and only 5 percent were prosecuted. ![]() It’s safe to assume that 17-year-old Markell Hughes wasn’t too worried about getting caught for stealing cars last year.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |