The Complete Handbook of Vehicle Safety & Security

Chapter 1: Understanding Vehicle Safety & Security

A vehicle security system is not a single device. It is a layered set of components and processes designed to achieve one of three goals: to deter a potential thief, to detect an intrusion or theft in progress, and to recover the vehicle if it is taken. A vehicle safety system differs in its objective. It is not about preventing theft. It is about preventing injury and protecting the occupants and other road users during normal operation. While a backup camera and a collision warning sensor are safety features, a GPS tracker and an immobilizer are security features. The distinction matters because the specifications that make a good security system are often irrelevant to a safety system, and vice versa. To properly understand this category, you must first understand the job each product is expected to do.

Consider the most basic security function: deterrence. A visible dashboard LED indicator that imitates a system's armed state is a deterrent. It does not prevent a thief from opening the door, but it signals that the vehicle has an alarm, which increases the risk of attention. Deterrence is psychological and is based on probabilities. A 2005 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that vehicles with standard electronic immobilizers had dramatically lower theft rates, but only after several years of market penetration created a perception among thieves that the vehicles were hard to steal. This is the central lesson of deterrence: the value