Just like any other place in America, New York can be dangerous, especially when it comes to the safety of your personal belongings. Many car insurance companies consider New York a high risk area because of the high statistics of crime. Cars are at risk for being vandalized and stolen. Yet, high risk or not, New York drivers and car owners must have auto insurance – it is the law.

Luckily, New York participates in a program for drivers and car owners to help them protect their vehicles against theft – Watch Your Car.

Watch Your Car (WYC) is a special plan to help drivers and car owners not only recover their vehicles after they have been stolen, but to possibly even prevent the vehicle from being stolen. The federally funded program places decals on the windshield of a WYC participant’s vehicle, giving police officers notice that the owner of the vehicle does not usually drive the vehicle between 1 a.m. and 5 p.m., nor does the owner of the vehicle drive near international borders.

WYC also etches the vehicle identification number into the vehicle’s windshield; a VIN is often removed when someone steals a vehicle, but when the VIN is etched into the vehicle’s windshield, it makes it very difficult to remove. If the thief does remove it, serious damage occurs to the vehicle’s windshield.

A program such as Watch Your Car lets a car insurance company know that you are serious about protecting your vehicle against theft. This is very important when shopping for cheap auto insurance in New York as you are likely to get better rates if you take safety precautions. Of course, you should also take other safety precautions such as anti-theft alarms and parking your vehicle in a garage rather than on the street.

For more information about Watch Your Car, contact the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, or your local law enforcement agency.