If you think by investing your money in one of those transponder-equipped cars you making your car theft proof then you are highly mistaken. Emad Wassef’s transponder installed 2003 Lincoln Navigator was stolen in Orange County, California. When he claimed for the provided $25,000 insurance cover, the company, Unitrin Direct declined. Brad Stone from San Francisco and John Hutton, an architect from Fairfax, Virginia faced similar incidents—naming just a few.

The insurance companies lose $14 billion to auto fraud every year in the US, and 20 percent of all stolen-car reports are false. However, too much reliance is placed on these transponders. Rob Painter, a Milwaukee-based forensic locksmith who has testified in dozens of auto insurance court cases, for both sides blatantly says: They are just theft deterrents. Tell me a car can’t be stolen and I’ll show you how to do it.

Let us examine how. Remember, the hype around GM’s 1986 Corvette that had the first electronic antitheft system, the Pass Key I. That promising piece of work quickly lost its value when GM gave permission to dealers and locksmiths to stock blank keys so that by the early ’90s police were arresting car thieves who had rings of all 15 GM keys.

In Germany, BMW invented a new antitheft system based on radio frequency identification chips in 1995. US and Japanese manufacturers quickly embraced the technology in their high-end models. The technology was an instant success. However, to the surprise of many, even such systems were easily cracked by thieves by opening the hood and sparking certain fuse from the power relay center in the upper left corner.

Besides, when these transponder-equipped cars change hands keys get misplaced so auto-repair supply and locksmithing companies started selling The Jet Smart Clone devices, the Code-Seeker, and the T-Code, which allow anyone to create a new set of keys for a fixed-code transponder-equipped car. Last few years, Bay Area cops have been tailing Hondas and Acuras thieves. These thieves, by using “jiggle” keys – keys with the teeth shaved down easily turn the tumblers inside any car’s door lock. Earl Hyser, the superintendent of State Farm Insurance’s Vehicle Research Facility, also shared that these transponder-equipped cars came with a secret “cheat” code designed to allow people who lose their keys to drive back to the shop. Hope all such insurance guys read this.

[Source:wired.com]

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tested large sedans in side crashes and found the Chevrolet Impala and Toyota Avalon fared best. Both cars come standard with side airbags and received ratings of “Good.” Despite the hum-drum naming convention, “Good” is actually the best a car can rank in IIHS tests. Side impacts cause the second highest number of car-crash fatalities. Airbags alone didn’t win the test for the Impala and Avalon. The Chrysler 300, when tested with optional side airbags, only received a “Marginal” rating, failing to notch even an “Average” score. So did the Buick LaCrosse and Pontiac Grand Prix. Those that received the worst, or “Poor,” rating weren’t equipped with optional side airbags. That group included the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, Ford Five Hundred, Mercury Montego, Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis. Both the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego, when tested with their optional side airbags, received the top rating of “Good” in 2005. Ford will be making side airbags standard for both cars in the 2007 model year. Even if every car with side airbags didn’t receive the highest rating, they’re still an excellent feature that buyers should look for when considering safety in a purchasing decision.

Second-generation airbags, introduced in 1998, were the focus of a recent study that concluded children are less likely to be injured by the advanced airbags then they were by the previous generation.

Children under the age of 6 are 66% more at risk in a car with first-generation airbags than in one with no airbags at all. That’s why it’s recommended to place young children in the back seat. The same age group is only 10% more at risk with the second-generation airbags, which inflate with less force. At the same time, the newer airbags also marginally improve safety for adults. Prior to this study some believed the less powerful airbag deployment meant more injuries to adults for the benefit of children. Now we know that second-generation airbags are just plain better for everybody.