Don’t you hate it when you accidentally lock yourself out of your car or home? It’s stressful enough being barred from something you’ve worked hard to buy, but the fear that your keys could fall in the wrong hands is enough to send your week spiraling for the worse. While plenty of lost keys just end up buried in the dirt or in the bottom of a lost and found bin, there’s always a possibility they could wind up where you want them least. This is where a locksmith comes in — from automotive emergencies to broken key repair, they specialize in the art of keys, locks and the security and peace of mind that comes with it.
Did You Know?
Let’s broaden the picture a little. Did you know a larceny-theft occurs every five seconds in the United States alone? No wonder everyone worries so much! Ongoing surveys have found the average American spending ten minutes every day searching for lost items, which can range from important necessities like car keys to minor nuisances like a lost bar of chapstick. When it comes to the most common items lost, you probably already know the answer.
Losing Your Car Keys
If you find yourself regularly misplacing your car keys, rest easy knowing you’re far from alone. Studies have shown car keys being the third most common thing people lose on average — when you’re constantly on the go from work to school to taking care of your kids, it’s small wonder these essential items can get misplaced on a frequent basis! Car theft is a hot button issue in the United States and some more densely populated cities see thousands of cars broken into, lost and damaged on a yearly basis.
Losing Your House Keys
Compared to car keys, house keys are lost on an even more regular interval. The United States leads the world in occurrence of burglaries, with four burglaries happening every minute on average. That means one burglary every 15 seconds. While constant measures are put toward awareness campaigns and more intuitive technology, burglaries are one of the most infamously difficult social issues to solve. Less than 15% of burglaries are cleared by law enforcement and reclamation of the victim’s property is at an even lower percentage. In the end, it all comes down to preventative action and a working knowledge of insurance and your local locksmith.
Safety Habits
The easiest way to keep your car from being stolen or your house from being broken into is to avoid the occurrence from happening in the first place. The Bureau of Justice Statistics have reported that a household member was home in nearly 30% of burglaries — to make matters worse, nearly 8% of those break-ins involved some form of violence. If you need to keep your key off your person for whatever reason, you should hide your key at least 20 feet away from your front door. Make sure it’s a somewhat inconvenient location to reach, as it will take a would-be thief even longer to locate it. Last, but not least, change the location of this key regularly!
Contacting A Locksmith
When worse comes to worse, you can always call an emergency locksmith for businesses or residences. Your average locksmith company will have all the resources you need and more to put your life back into your hands without further worry — they can open your door, update your locks and even install alarms to help with potential forced entry. However, good habits will go a long way in ensuring the low chances of such an issue happening at all. Try to avoid putting your key under the mat or in the bush by your door, as those are some of the most common places for a would-be thief to look. With a little foresight, you can keep you and yours safe from harm all days of the year.
