I watched my car get stolen. Why grand theft auto has become a maddening game in Toronto

I am watching a grainy video of my car getting stolen this week.

The footage, courtesy of my neighbour’s Nest cam across the street, was recorded at 6:46 a.m. on Tuesday. The night vision clip shows a car approach and slow next to my vehicle. The car then pulls up a few houses ahead. A man enters the frame and ambles toward my SUV. He opens the door and, as it was explained to me, quickly reprograms the system via the diagnostic port with a gadget you can buy online from China.

He is driving away in that CR-V faster than my wife ever does — and she has keys.

I know there are real horrors in the world and this is not one of them. But watching some brazen jackass blithely abscond with my vehicle this week made my blood boil. My kitty litter and paper towels from Costco were still in the trunk! This is a gross violation.

It was all I could do to not demand an emergency Zoom meeting with the heads of every automaker in which I would start with two words: “Do something!”

This is not woe-is-me — it is woe-is-all-of-us. Think you’re safe? Think again.

Grand theft auto has become a maddening game in Toronto.

On Thursday, the Star published a story, “What the year in crime says about Toronto’s changing criminal landscape.” This part hit too close to home: “Perhaps the most striking development last year was that the number of vehicles stolen in Toronto hit a two-decade high, nearly surpassing the single-year record since amalgamation in 1998. A total of 12,143 cars were reported stolen to police last year …”

We can assign primary blame to the criminal rings now encircling the GTA with impunity. You know why there are so many repeat offenders? Because nothing happens if you get caught stealing a car. If you want to fall through the cracks of our criminal justice system, stick to property crime. You won’t even get a slap on the wrist — your palms will be tickled. You know what happens after someone is charged with stealing a car? They probably steal another car outside the courtroom to get home.

They are laughing on the inside because Lady Justice has no fangs.

But would 30 to 50 cars get stolen in this city every day if cars weren’t so easy to steal?

Absolutely not. There is no such thing as 100 per cent anti-theft. Someone could lift your vehicle into a hollow truck and drive away. But you can’t tell me carmakers are doing enough to slow down this epidemic of four-wheeled thievery. How is it that my car used to know where it was parked and now has no clue where it might be?

It’s like my car suffered a head injury on Tuesday and has amnesia.

For all the conveniences in recent years, from push-button ignition to touch-screen navigation, why are automakers not investing R&D in loss prevention? Not much point in having a backup camera or lane departure sensors if the car itself is a sitting duck.

Is there really no way to better secure our most expensive possessions?

Off the top of my head: What about a mandatory kill switch that can be activated remotely? What about GPS tracking that can’t be disabled by a thief? A retinal scan via the rearview mirror to authenticate driver identity? Height or weight locomotive metrics?

Even simple, cheap technological fixes could help.

We have passwords for everything else. Why not for our cars?

A stranger stole my Honda this week faster than I could make off with a stack of books left on the curb. I might as well have left the door unlocked and the engine running.

I feel like a member of my family was kidnapped. According to the Star story on crime trends, police say our pilfered vehicles often get shipped to the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Asia. Weird to think my daughters’ headphones might now be in Damascus.

But from which Canadian port is this criminal enterprise hitting the high seas? How are we not stopping this illicit mercantile trade? I was told my 2018 model might not be fancy enough for a boat ride. It might instead be used to commit local crimes as a getaway car.

But since the power shade on the moonroof is busted, I hope it ends up in a scorching hot country: Enjoy your new ride. Better slather your guilty face with SPF-100.

It’s time for carmakers to stop riding shotgun on Highway Fatalism and do something about safeguarding their products. Otherwise, there is only one conclusion: carmakers do not care about car theft because all it ultimately means is more car sales.

So the government should step in with new laws. From now on, if a car is stolen without the keys, the manufacturer must go in 50-50 with the insurance company to repay the consumer. Trust me. In six months, every car would be more secure than an M1 Abrams tank. What’s lacking at present is the urgency needed to run over the fearless criminals.

If there were 30 to 50 arsons in this city every day, do you know how illegal matchbooks would be? There would be task forces and daily press conferences.

Do something, carmakers. Help find a solution.

Because right now, honk-honk, you are a big part of the problem.