On Wednesday, at around 7.30pm at a garage in Kenilworth, a man attempted to hijack our car with me sitting in the passenger seat. My partner had run into the shop to get a juice after gym.
Our vehicle has a sensor that sets off the alarm if movement is detected from inside and the keys aren’t in the car. A safety feature – go figure. My partner took the keys out of the ignition and tossed them onto my lap. I forgot to lock the doors. Silly.
The car was parked almost directly in front of the convenience store, under direct light. I could see my partner through the windscreen and shopfront windows. I usually don’t – as my mom always taught her daughters not to – sit on my phone in the car. I was hijacked when I was about 10 years old in Johannesburg.
In my most recent incident, I was reading an article when I heard the door open. I thought it was my partner. Last I looked he was paying at the counter. A stranger was sitting in the driver’s seat.
South Africans have been warned of a new hijacking trend. Fast food is all about convenience, and crooks are playing into this concept. Patrons at fast food outlets are sitting ducks. Easy targets for baddies to grab and go – minus the happy meal.
Also read: Ian Cameron won’t shut up as he takes on Cele and Sisulu with another big call out
Fidelity ADT communications head Charnel Hattingh explained the strategy to IOL. Drivers waiting for food are sandwiched.
“Typically, as you get to the front of the queue, armed suspects from the vehicle in front of you get out and attempt to hijack your vehicle. There are usually two cars involved, the vehicle behind you blocks in your car when you try and reverse.”
These are calculated incidents, but hijackings in general are on the rise. The most recent crime stats released by the SAPS shows a 14% year-on-year rise in the latest quarter.
I reckon what happened on Wednesday night was opportunistic. But it still speaks to the ‘sitting duck’ strategy.
I was not physically harmed. The chancer sprinted into the night when I started screaming for help.
A guide on ‘how not to be hijacked’ is not likely to be top-of-mind when it actually happens to you, but Arrive Alive has put together some essentials for prevention and action that might be helpful to you.
When children are involved:
Co-founder of SAFER (South Africa’s Fastest Emergency Response), Gordon Knight told Cape {town} Etc:
“With the increase in hijacking incidents, I feel that all parents should take some time to think about what they’d do if it ever happened to them.
“Once they have a clear action plan they should discuss it with the children so that they also know what to do.
“The entire situation is normally extremely stressful, the hijackers are highly strung and any wrong move could be fatal. Give thought to things like how to undo your seatbelt, without it looking like you could be reaching for a weapon.”
Knight also mentioned that some advice published on how to get your children safely out of a vehicle when being hijacked is not correct.
“It’s only through being exposed to this and learning from some of the best anti-hijacking experts that I’ve picked up the knowledge,” he added.
“Advice to go to the backdoor to take the children out is completely wrong. Yes, you definitely need to get the children out, but not like this.
“They need to climb between the seats and come out the front door with you. If you’ve ever seen footage of a hijacking, the driver is almost always grabbed and thrown onto the ground as soon as they start getting out of the car. At that point, one of the hijackers jumps in and drives away immediately.
“They will definitely not be interested in waiting around while the children are evacuated through another door. Having a leg in the car just increases your chances of being dragged along the road as the car speeds away.”
This new trend comes in the wake of major safety concerns for tourists visiting South Africa. As for locals, we’ll keep our hopes hanging on the likes of Ian Cameron.
Also read: The government cares for your safety… if you’re a tourist
Picture: Pexels