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This safety tip provided by State Farm Agent B. J. Goolsby
512-928-8889

Auto Theft Prevention

What You Can Do

Put the Brakes on Vehicle Theft:

To protect yourself in cold weather, you put on layers of clothing to stay warm. The same concept applies to protecting your vehicle from theft. By following a layered approach, you can put the brakes on vehicle theft.

The more layers of protection you put on your vehicle, the more difficult it is to steal. The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) recommends the following

Layer 1: Common Sense

This one is simple and doesn’t cost you a thing.

• Lock your doors
• Remove your keys from the ignition
• Completely close all windows including sun/moon roofs
• Park in well-lit areas

Layer 2: Visible or Audible Device

We find vehicle alarms annoying when they go off. So do car thieves. More often than not, they avoid autos with alarms or anti-theft devices. Consider adding a visible or audible anti-theft device to your vehicle.

• Audible alarm system
• Identification markers in or on vehicle
• Micro dot marking
• Steering column collar
• Steering wheel/brake pedal locks
• Theft deterrent decals
• Tire locks/deflators
• Window etching

Layer 3: Vehicle Immobilizer

Thieves can bypass your ignition by “hotwiring” a vehicle. But you can put the heat on the bad guy by installing or utilizing a vehicle immobilizer system

• Fuse cut offs
• Kill switches
• Smart keys with computer chips that must be present to start the vehicle
• Starter, ignition, and fuel disabler

Layer 4: Tracking System

Put your vehicle o the radar screen by installing a tracking system. A tracking system emits a signal to the police or monitoring service when the vehicle is reported stolen. This added layer of protection can significantly improve the odds of your vehicle being recovered faster and with less damage.

FREE LEGAL ADVICE
Every First Tuesday of the Month

Finding answers to questions about the law or legal situations can be difficult, but on September 6, 2011 and every first Tuesday of every month, obtaining good, simple legal advice will be easy--just call 472-8303 for LegalLine, the free legal advice hotline between 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Sponsored by the Lawyer Referral Service of Central Texas, LegalLine is staffed by attorney volunteers who answer legal questions and give brief legal advice. Questions concerning many areas of the law--including divorce, consumer issues, landlord tenant, wills, consumer issues--can be answered by calling LegalLine at 472-8303. All calls are confidential and anonymous. Bilingual (English/Spanish) attorneys are available.

LegalLine is a free community service project available every first Tuesday of the month. Attorneys will be answering calls from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The number to call is (512) 472-8303.

City of Austin News

Solid Waste Services is now Austin Resource Recovery!

Solid Waste Services is now Austin Resource Recovery! The new name is more in line with the Department’s mission toward Zero Waste. Now sporting a more colorful, modern logo, the Department hopes to inspire Austinites to rethink how they view trash and the City’s natural resources. Each color in the logo represents a new life for the various resources we recover.

The Department has had many names through the years, and historically, the materials collected were treated as waste. "With the advent of Zero Waste, material collected is now seen as a resource that is recovered for a second life, rather than a waste stream destined for a landfill,” said Bob Gedert, Austin Resource Recovery Director.

Austin Resource Recovery will continue to provide comprehensive services that encourage recycling and keep as much waste as possible out of local landfills. Curbside services include trash collection, Single Stream Recycling, yard trimmings and periodic bulk and large brush collections. The Department also provides Anti Litter services including street sweeping, dead animal collection, etc.

What about a Backup?

If you are new computer user first you should learn about the importance and need of back up. Because without backup yon can lose your data any time due to any virus, power failure and hard disk problem. This has happened to many people. In extreme cases, it has put companies out of business. Computers are becoming more and more reliable. This creates a false sense of security - we begin to think all our data are safe and secure and will never go away. It's not true - and never will be. If you don't back up your computer system regularly. Backups are really a necessity, and you are responsible for making backups of your files.