Recommendations to avoid road robberies

Crime in the country has increased, as well as violent events. Even so, the carnival holiday is approaching and the citizens of the Coast usually prefer this time to travel to other cities of Ecuador, facts that increase the number of vehicles on the road.

However, this period represents a possible increase in theft of vehicles or assaults in the middle of the road. According to figures from Carseg SA, in the last beach season (January – April 2021) 55 stolen vehicles were reported, which meant an i80% increase compared to the same period in 2020.

According to the same report, the largest number of robberies occurred in the province of Guayas with a total of 30 cars, while the most common times in which robberies were reported during the season were from Monday to Friday, from 06:00 to 09:00, from 14:00 to 17:00 and from 20:00 to 23:00; as well as weekends, from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.

That is why, with the proximity of these dates and past statistics, we will explain below some recommendations to avoid being victims of this type of crime on the country’s highways, according to the Gen. Abraham Correa.

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• Check the correct operation of door locks and alarm. Before embarking on a car trip, it is very important to check that the door locks work normally and test that the vehicle alarm is active and has no abnormality.
• Inform family or close friends about the trip you are going to make. If the people nearby know the route you are going to take and you maintain permanent communication about the journey, an immediate alert can be raised in the event of a mishap.

• Avoid trips at night, since antisocials operate more frequently during these hours with the aim of not being easily detected.

Recommendations against theft in vehicles with security sheets

• Do not stop the vehicle in dark areas, isolated or highly dangerous. Generally, antisocials take advantage of service stations or supply places far from the population and with little mobile coverage so that those affected cannot request timely help from the authorities.

• Do not take shortcuts or enter second and third order paths, this represents a high risk of assault for the driver. Organized gangs operate in these areas blocking routes so that travelers stop imminently so they can rob them.

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• Do not pick up strangers on the tracks, this is another of the modalities that exist on the part of certain individuals who operate by making signs and asking for a ride to later intimidate the passengers of the vehicle with weapons or under illegal substances that make it impossible for them to defend themselves against an assault.

• Sometimes the assault on vehicles on highways It is committed by people dressed in police, military and/or transit uniforms. For this reason, it is important to verify if the uniformed officer carries a seal that identifies him as a member of an institution.

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• Have a satellite monitoring and tracking service. A satellite monitoring and tracking system provides the owner with greater opportunities to have control over the security of their vehicle 24 hours a day. “The benefits of this service, through applications such as AMi by Hunter, facilitate the recovery of the vehicle in the event of theft, thanks to the constant work of supervision of the vehicle by the company, which allows coordinated work with the National Police and the ECU911, for the report of accidents and immediate actions”, indicates Gen. Correa. These types of systems also issue notifications to the owner of the vehicle through alarms, a panic button, in addition to allowing the locking and unlocking of the car, the opening of door locks, engine ignition, among other functionalities. (F)