Attempted Robbery

[azaman]

This incident happened yesterday afternoon folks...

My sister, who is heavily pregnant, was on her way home in east London (layton area) with her 3 year old daughter in the back of her BMW X5.

While waiting at traffic lights a young man opened the driver’s side door and started to struggle with my sister. He overpowered her, pushing her head down hard to get a good look inside the car; he was after her handbag probably.

While this was happening my sister started sounding the horn and inadvertently let her foot off the brake and rolled into the car in front. At this point the man decided to run away. The 'kind' gent in front of her moved off to the side and my sister sped away in a panic to get out of the area.

She found a safe spot and stopped to call her husband and the police. The police arrived quickly and took all the details and called an ambulance to have her checked over due to her pregnancy. She informed them she had a collision and drove away due to the circumstances. The policeman said the other driver had already reported the collision with no mention of the attempted robbery that must have been in clear view to him (policeman's own words, "the guy is a loser"). She only had a glancing look at the robbers face so it very unlikely he will be caught.

They told her not to worry about the crash, she needs to report to the police station and inform her insurance company today.

By the grace of God she is fine, just a little shaken. This could have been a tragedy for our family...

I know most modern Merc's lock doors automatically, moral of the story is PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE advise all friends and family to drive with their doors locked at all times. My sisters handbag was not in clear view as it was under the passenger seat so this was an pure opportunist attempt to make a quick buck.

 

[CE230]

Sorry to hear about your sister and thankfully not injured.

How others around could have ignored the struggle is beyond belief.

I though most modern car doors locked automatically these days?

 

[Rory]

I think that might be an X5 thing - I toyed with the idea of getting one a few years ago and a Manchester based policeman friend advised not to, saying said a hugely disproportionate number of car-jackings seem to involve X5's.

 

[horsesuitedfool]

I think that might be an X5 thing - I toyed with the idea of getting one a few years ago and a Manchester based policeman friend advised not to, saying said a hugely disproportionate number of car-jackings seem to involve X5's.

I had an X5, they do lock on pull away but the dealer has to code it to activate it, you cant do it yourself.....I also had a guy try to open the passenger door when i was at the traffic lights in Camden (London) but they were locked so he tried couple of times and just ran off......

 

[azaman]

They only recently got the X5 and it's an 06, top spec, 20" wheels, tinted windows - basically it does attract attention. I did say to my sister and her husband at the time to be very careful where they park it and also to keep the doors locked while driving for this very reason. Sad thing is my sister had the doors locked when she started her journey, she was in a rush on the way home and forgot to lock the doors.

This happened on a busy road and I to am amazed no one tried to help her... I'm no hero but if ever saw something like happening I would certainly try to help. Don't know how people can just turn a blind eye to these things.

 

[SilverSaloon]

i think all BMW's need it to be coded at a dealer for it to auto-lock. my E65 never did.

my 208 CLK did though and it was a really good feature

i always lock my doors when travelling through towns/citys now the dark evenings are here.

 

[Baron_Samedi]

They only recently got the X5 and it's an 06, top spec, 20" wheels, tinted windows - basically it does attract attention. I did say to my sister and her husband at the time to be very careful where they park it and also to keep the doors locked while driving for this very reason. Sad thing is my sister had the doors locked when she started her journey, she was in a rush on the way home and forgot to lock the doors.

This happened on a busy road and I to am amazed no one tried to help her... I'm no hero but if ever saw something like happening I would certainly try to help. Don't know how people can just turn a blind eye to these things.

Probably for fear of smashed glasses and the cut nose and broken front tooth it provokes...

 

[d w124]

I hope she gets through easy,as she must have been so scared.I lock my dors every time,as once something like that hapen to me but he was trying to take my phone through the passenger window.Got him stuck on the window pulled over and give a lesson he`ll never forget.

 

[219]

I NEVER lock doors when in the car : it is a very dangerous thing to do . It makes it so much more difficult for bystanders to rescue you in the event of a crash when every second may count - most normal people will be thwarted by a locked door .

A poor soul near us burned to death in agony when his Audi crashed into a tree and went on fire - people who came out of houses nearby could not open the door before they were beaten back by the heat then just had to stand and watch . Horrible .

I'm just glad I wasn't on duty that night , one of my colleagues had to photograph the scene , road was closed until morning - only about 5 miles from my house .

I'd hand over handbag/watch/wallet every time rather than risk a death like that .

Things can be replaced - life cannot .

 

[Baron_Samedi]

Part of the reason MB don't deadlock...

 

[azaman]

I NEVER lock doors when in the car : it is a very dangerous thing to do . It makes it so much more difficult for bystanders to rescue you in the event of a crash when every second may count - most normal people will be thwarted by a locked door .

A poor soul near us burned to death in agony when his Audi crashed into a tree and went on fire - people who came out of houses nearby could not open the door before they were beaten back by the heat then just had to stand and watch . Horrible .

I'm just glad I wasn't on duty that night , one of my colleagues had to photograph the scene , road was closed until morning - only about 5 miles from my house .

I'd hand over handbag/watch/wallet every time rather than risk a death like that .

Things can be replaced - life cannot .

Very sad story... I guess this is why Merc's automatically unlock the doors in the event of an impact. I had a big bag of cat little in the boot for a few days and if I went round a bend quickly it would slide and hit the side of the boot, prompting the car to unlock itself!

Perhaps around town at low speed driving, locking the doors is best, in rural areas and motorways etc it is best to keep the door unlocked.

 

[Druk]

I'm starting to empathise with the South African system...

YouTube - South African Car Flamethrower

 

[flango]

So sorry to hear about this glad she is OK and the police were understanding. As Rory points out X5's do have a disproportionate share of car jackings and it is good advice to keep the doors locked in city and urban areas.

I do take Pontoneers point about egress in times of emergency but I think in low speed town/city situations where the risk of car jacking mugging is greater than that of an accident it is prudent to keep the doors locked.

I thought most locking systems now opened on detection impact even my 1980's Sierra did this and I thought most German Marques did. However I know some do not as a couple of Christmas's ago a Peugeot crashed and overturned in front of me, I went to rescue the woman driver but could not open the door. I had to get her to cover her face and I broke the window with my Lifehammer (great bit of kit) opened the door from the inside got her to undo her seatbelt dropped her onto my legs and got her out with the help of some council workers who had turned up.

The balance of Safety and Self Protection is a very fine line but glad all was OK in the end for your sister.

 

[Gridlock]

Generally people will see something like this happening and assume it's a domestic, or that there's a good reason nobody else is getting involved. Diffusion of responsibility/the bystander effect;

Kitty Genovese - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ETA; LifeHammer, always carry one, along with a fire extinguisher. Better to have and not need than need and not have...

 

[SilverSaloon]

I NEVER lock doors when in the car : it is a very dangerous thing to do . It makes it so much more difficult for bystanders to rescue you in the event of a crash when every second may count - most normal people will be thwarted by a locked door .

A poor soul near us burned to death in agony when his Audi crashed into a tree and went on fire - people who came out of houses nearby could not open the door before they were beaten back by the heat then just had to stand and watch . Horrible .

I'm just glad I wasn't on duty that night , one of my colleagues had to photograph the scene , road was closed until morning - only about 5 miles from my house .

I'd hand over handbag/watch/wallet every time rather than risk a death like that .

Things can be replaced - life cannot .

yes i totally agree with you, hence me mentioning i only lock through towns/cities. i would have them unlocked whilst travelling at speed etc where a nasty crash is more likely to happen.

i'm talking about locking them when you are constantly start/stopping at junctions/traffic lights etc in a town centre in the dark, where "gangs of kids/theives" are likely to be about.

one of my wife's friends was sitting at lights in edinburgh late at night when a guy got in thinking it was a taxi. i dont think he got out straight away either and it really scared the girl.

 

[st4]

Main thing is that the OPs sister is okay.

 

[timk]

Could have been so much worse; glad to hear no-one was hurt.

Sorry to hijack the thread but where is the best place to buy one of these life-hammer things, sounds like a great idea.

 

[bouncer]

Very sad story... I guess this is why Merc's automatically unlock the doors in the event of an impact. I had a big bag of cat little in the boot for a few days and if I went round a bend quickly it would slide and hit the side of the boot, prompting the car to unlock itself!

Perhaps around town at low speed driving, locking the doors is best, in rural areas and motorways etc it is best to keep the door unlocked.

Glad to hear Your sister is ok

So your saying if someone wants into my Mercedes all thay have to do is bump into it and the doors will unlock

sTeVe

 

[flango]

Could have been so much worse; glad to hear no-one was hurt.

Sorry to hijack the thread but where is the best place to buy one of these life-hammer things, sounds like a great idea.

link below

emergency hammer, car escape tool, auto escape tool, safety hammer, LifeHammer

Buy the genuine one then at least you know it will work when you need it to, unfortunately there are a lot of cheap copies out there.

 

[JumboBeef]

Glad to hear your sister is OK

I will echo what has already been said: locking your doors might be OK for slow speed, urban driving and not for faster driving.

Even at slow speeds around the town, how is someone going to get to you if you need help, without having to smash their way in?