Fear of Crime
The actual fear of a crime can be far worse than the crime itself.
If you're not careful, you can end up worrying about something that
may never happen. The trick is to be aware of the problem and take
sensible precautions, but not worry about it
One crime risk that falls into this category is attacks on women,
although the following points equally apply to men.
Preparation
First things first, make sure that your car is fit for the journey.
It's no good trying to go along the Snake Pass in a blizzard if you
have a Mini that runs on a wing and a prayer. Plan your journey and
use maps. If you're going to an "undesirable" area then you
don't want to be asking every stranger the way. Planning includes
telling someone by when you expect to be there, and making phone calls
to keep them updated. Get in the habit of checking your spare tyre to
make sure it's not flat. It's all common sense, isn't it?
Breakdown
Perhaps the biggest worry for people travelling alone is what to do
if the car fails to work - your car (and you!) having a breakdown!
Again, remember when you were a girl guide, and "Be
Prepared". If you regularly go on long journeys, you should
seriously consider joining a breakdown recovery service.
Survival Bag
Get yourself a hold-all type bag to keep out of sight in the boot
(or in the dish of the spare wheel) and put the sort of things in that
you hope you'll never need. The smaller items can be kept close to
hand in the glove-box . These "survival" items include:-
- Torch
- Jump Leads
Have you never left your lights on ?
- Fuel Can
With fuel in
- Personal Attack Alarm
Battery Operated
- Money
For a phone box, and maybe a phone card
- Pen and Paper
To write down registration numbers of any suspicious vehicles
- A "Help - Call the Police" fluorescent sign for the
car window
Now available from car spares shops
- The Car Handbook
This tells you how to get the car up running again, or change a
wheel, etc
- Over Trousers and Hat
You don't want to try and change a flat tyre in the wet wearing a
mini-skirt.
- A Copy of the Highway Code
It gives a lot of useful advice on what to do if you break down.
Did you know that the marker posts on a motorway have an arrow
which points to the nearest telephone ?
Don't forget the useful ploy of waiting in the passenger seat for
the breakdown service, so that anyone passing thinks someone else is
near by.
In Traffic
A recent trend in the inner city areas, is for thieves to open the
passenger door of your car whilst you are stuck in a traffic jam, and
steal a handbag or something. The way to stop this is common sense -
lock yourself in the car. It's a good idea in a traffic jam to always
stop far enough away from the car in front so that you can see the
other car's wheels. If you need to pull out in a hurry to get away,
you can. |
