When thieves stole a Brampton resident’s pickup truck on the morning of Feb. 1, the first thing they did was render the factory-installed GPS tracker useless. But Aman Sidhu had his secret weapon. That is the second tracker, installed by a trained mechanic. With this, he finds out that his Toyota Tundra is in a parking lot in Toronto. He then called the police there.
In an interview, Sidhu said, I put my GPS in a secret place. Thieves never thought that another GPS could be in the car.
The insurance industry is encouraging the installation of GPS in a bid to reduce claims in a record number of car thefts. Because criminals are stealing cars from driveways across the province and sending them around the world for sale.
According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, these incentives are aimed at vehicles that are at high risk of theft. Participation rates among car owners at high risk of theft are consistently increasing.
The Sidhu incident has brought to the fore the complexities of attempting mass production of theft-deterrent devices. Because smart devices can be traced and rendered useless. So he thinks all drivers should have a backup system.
Sidhu said his first GPS was silent on the morning of February 1. But the second GPS gave him a message that his car was moving.
