RAC car crime campaign launched

THE RISING tide of car crime has prompted the RAC to launch an advertising campaign that suggests criticism of the Government's failure to get to grips with law and order. The advertisements will appear in the national press next week at a cost of more than pounds 1m, with the slogan: 'It isn't the car that's broken down, it's law and order.'

In a survey released yesterday, the RAC found that more than one in five drivers had had their car broken into, vandalised or stolen in the past year. This implies that a large number of crimes are going unreported since official statistics show that only about one in ten drivers are victims of such crimes every year.

Edmund King, the RAC's campaigns manager, said: 'We are reflecting the concerns of our members, who often feel that not enough is being done about car crime. . . . the police always have more serious matters such as murders and assaults to deal with.'

There was no Home Office minister at the launch of the RAC's car crime campaign as Charles Wardle, Under-Secretary of State, said that he had prior constituency business.

The RAC said that, in 1992, 587,900 cars were stolen and 954,248 cars were broken into in England and Wales. One-third of stolen cars are never recovered and high performance cars are three times more likely to be stolen. Car crime has led to a change in behaviour among many drivers, with one-third of women no longer driving at night alone.