Smash & Grab Attacks on the Increase in Johannesburg

Klingshield Auto Window Film News
Johannesburg South Africa April 2011

Being in the window film business one deals with many distressed consumers coming in to our offices to arrange to have Smash & Grab window film installed on their car windows. The old story – when the horse is out the stable, it is too late to close the door! We see it over and over on a daily basis, people streaming into our offices relating the shocking experience of a smash & grab attack.

Johannesburg, being noted as one of the crime capitals of the world,experiences numerous smash & grab attacks on a daily basis. Statistics are often very sketchy when it comes to these types of attacks as most of them are never reported to the local Police Station. However, many newspapers run articles, advising motorists on what areas to look out for where smash & grab attackers are very active and radio stations continuously warn motorists of these attacks on their traffic reports.

Hijacking is also a huge problem in South Africa. Window film, offering a certain amount of privacy, has the benefit of not allowing the would-be hijacker to see exactly who is in the car.Psychologically this is an advantage for the driver as most criminals prefer to know who they are dealing with.

Ultra thick safety films not only offer Smash & Grab protection, but turns the glass into a strong barrier, making it very difficult to penetrate.

Ultra thick safety films have also been reported to have saved peoples’ lives in shooting incidents as the combination of glass and film reduces the force of the bullet.

Worldwide police and military vehicles are fitted with safety film to save people’s lives and reduce injuries from flying glass. Window film also holds glass together should the vehicle be involved in an accident where the glass is shattered. The glass will be held in place by this self-adhesive film.

Reports also show attacks being made on back windows of cars in stoning incidents. Window film is also applied to back windows of all vehicles, turning them into shatterproof glass.

Stoning incidents during riot attacks and civil unrest is a major problem as windows are broken and Molotov cocktails are thrown through the window which ignites the car and eventually causes an explosion when the first reaches the petrol tank.

Safety window film on all vehicles is a “no brainer” and as time goes by all vehicles will be fitted with safety film and in our opinion many countries around the world will create laws forcing drivers to have their cars fitted with safety film.