A free anti-theft clinic for Hyundai homeowners begins Friday at Empire Discipline at Mile Excessive, in accordance with a information launch from Hyundai Motor America.
The occasion, hosted by the Denver Police Division and Hyundai Motor America, might be held Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to six p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in car parking zone E at Empower Discipline. No registration or appointment is required.
Any Hyundai proprietor who visits the clinic will obtain a steering wheel lock and be eligible for an anti-theft software program improve or an ignition sleeve, in accordance with Hyundai consultant Ira Gabriel.
These with Hyundai autos constructed from 2011 to 2021 with flip key ignitions could also be eligible for the free anti-theft software program improve. “If they’ve the push button they don’t want the software program as a result of it already has the mobilizer constructed into the automobile, however we’ll nonetheless give them a steering wheel lock,” Gabriel says.
As soon as locked with the important thing fob, a Hyundai with the software program improve won’t begin till it’s unlocked. “The software program acts as an ignition kill,” Gabriel says. “The tactic that everyone’s been sharing on social media, how you can break in and do crimes with the automobile, it’ll primarily render that unimaginable. We’ve put in properly over one million items of software program all through all of the dealerships and the clinics we do across the nation with no failure in any respect.”
Cellular service technicians might be on-site to put in and full the improve, which usually takes lower than half-hour, in accordance with the discharge. Those that can’t make it to the clinic can nonetheless get the free software program improve at any Hyundai dealership.
In 2023, Hyundai Elantra and Chevrolet Silverado had been the autos most steadily reported stolen. Hyundai and Kia autos accounted for 23% of all reported thefts within the state, in accordance with earlier reporting by the Denver Publish.
Over the previous 5 years, auto theft has risen 62% in Colorado, with 32,976 autos reported stolen in 2023 alone, in accordance with a March 22 press launch from the Colorado State Patrol.
Reported automobile thefts have lastly dropped, with a 21% lower throughout the state between 2022 and 2023. To this point this yr, auto thefts are 32% decrease in Denver than in 2023, in accordance with the Denver Police Division’s crime dashboard.
Doug Schepman, director of communications at DPD, believes this decline is because of the metropolis’s elevated theft prevention efforts. In January, Mayor Mike Johnston introduced a complete technique to battle auto theft, together with the institution of a everlasting DPD staff devoted to auto thefts and a rise within the variety of license plate readers put in all through town. A brand new program known as DenverTrack additionally permits Denver residents to preregister any automobile made after 2014 with the police division. If the automotive is reported stolen, the placement will be tracked instantly by way of GPS.
Schepman is hopeful that anti-theft upgrades for high-risk automobiles like Hyundais will additional lower auto thefts in Denver. “It’s form of a name to motion for individuals who personal these kinds of autos to get this software program patch to stop the auto theft within the first place. Prevention is vital,” Schepman says. “We hope that a whole lot, if no more than a thousand, folks carry their automobiles out and make the most of this free occasion.”
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