Broken into in France

[gus-lopez]

Hook your seat belts through the door handle, quick release if needed then. I fitted one of those window alarms on the habitation door - it works a treat. Secret of alarm is for it to make enough noise to wake you up and to draw attention to those seeking to break in.

I'm the opposite.lol
Habitation door is always locked & with the two internal locks, top & bottom ,locked. I use the cab doors to access. The door courtesy lights are linked to an alarm siren.

 

[Portland]

Your not the first or will be the last to suffer. We had friends who despite all the warnings parked among the lorries (excellent cover for thieves) and had the windscreen removed and robbed of most things whilst they slept. If you come off the motorway go to the first village there's always parking by the Cell de fete's or the cemetery and its peaceful.

 

[JockandRita]

good that everyone is safe, that the first thing.

I have one of these fitted to the door, open the door and it makes plenty of noise, enough to wake us up, really cheaper and simple. Broken Link Removed

you could also use a rachet strap to hold the front doors closed, my only concern with that is if u had to exit the motorhome quickly, such as if you had a fire.

Just ordered 2 x lots of those. Thanks. It was something I meant to do the last time I saw a link for them, but didn't get around to it.

Re the strap or seat belt idea, if the quarter light window is compromised, the strap/belt could be cut and you wouldn't know anything about the scum gaining entry.
We use a plastic coated steel cable with a loop at each end, secured by a quick release carabiner, as I too was concerned about exiting in the event of an emergency.

Although only one front door (A Class) the cable is secured around the door handle and the steering wheel, blinds are left open, and the driver's seat is left in the driving position. If necessary, I just jump into the seat, start up, disconnect the carabiner, and drive off.

You can only do your best to cover any eventuallity, but if aware of personal security, without being paranoid about it, you won't go far wrong in keeping safe.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Traveller_HA5_3DOM]

Your not the first or will be the last to suffer. We had friends who despite all the warnings parked among the lorries (excellent cover for thieves) and had the windscreen removed and robbed of most things whilst they slept. If you come off the motorway go to the first village there's always parking by the Cell de fete's or the cemetery and its peaceful.

There is always water at the dead centre if you are running low.
I also favour a van that is not quite as run of the mill as your normal Fiat base vehicle models, the thieves do not get quite so many to practice their art on.

 

[DavidG58]

I am sorry that you wee broken in to, it could ruin most holidays especially if you cant get the lock fixed, I do use and will continue to use motorway stop overs for occasional stopovers, I do always park fairly close to the garage area, would never use a not fuel motorway overnight, some of the areas set side for caravans and motorhomes can be quite remote and often very dark, so I would avoid those

But having recently tried aires, some of those are very dark and I would think the risk of break in on a small aire as equal to that at a motorway service area personally

If some one is determined or desperate enough you are never going to stop them trying to break in, we are off again next weekend to France, this thread will at least focus my mind to the risk, but not stop me doing what we have done in the past

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[iandsm]

on a post about a really bad experience it seems silly to say they are completely safe but this is the first thread like this I've read on here. I've been on the forum 7 or 8 months I thinK. That seems pretty safe to me... Like has been said, this is horrible but you can be broken into anywhere. you are most likely to get broken into on A
a dark windy or rainy night. You have to weigh up the risk against how tired you are I guess..

One question for the OP, was it the hab door?

Motorway and other aires are certainly not completely safe, neither are all supermarket or shopping centre car parks day or night. You just have to size up the place you happen to be in. One of us usually stays in the Motorhome, the other does the shopping. If we do leave it empty we try to park where there are lots of people going to and from their cars instead of in quiete areas and turn the alarm on. We would not stop overnight in a motorway car park in any country as a Motorhome might as well have a neon sign saying "cash and passports together with many saleable items inside"

Having said all that we have only had one attempted break in (at an aire in Ostende) in the night. But that makes us more aware we are a tempting target for thieves. Wherever you are you just have to assess the risk and avoid it as much as you can. You should take what precautions you can but in the end don't let fear ruin motor homing. Things can be replaced. Damaged door locks or windows can be repaired. That's what we pay insurance for.

 

[Traveller_HA5_3DOM]

No evidence to support this but I tend to regard Pay Motorways (Urr, wash my mouth out) as safer than the free ones like the ones through Barcelona. But they are the flag you down scammers not the night breakers, still if they have got to pay to use them they are on camera at all the booths so that should discourage them.

 

[mjltigger]

I feel safer in my PVC than I would in a MH so is top when I'm tired and worry not. I'm probably kidding myself but it makes me feel better. Having said that I am careful about where I park and how obvious I make it that we are a camper rather than a normal van and often park with the side window facing away from the traffic.