Democrats have launched a new effort to tackle car thefts in their crime-infested cities.
Rather than arrest and jail criminals, Democrat cities are now suing car manufacturers for making their cars too easy to steal.
Milwaukee, Rochester, and Baltimore, three cities consumed by crime, are suing Kia and Hyundai because thugs keep stealing their cars.
Milwaukee City Attorney Tearman Spencer said:
“We are elated at this moment that we finally, finally got the word to move forward for a lawsuit.”
In the first three months of 2023, Milwaukee police say 373 Kias were stolen and 304 Hyundais were stolen.
“In my estimation, all the problems emanated in Milwaukee, the epicenter of the cause and problems that we’ve been experiencing,” said Spencer.
“As long as you live in the city of Milwaukee and pay taxes, you have standing,” said Spencer.
“You have damages from MPD having to respond, fire having to respond.”
Amanda Mattefs’ whose Hyundai has been stolen twice said they need to stop the criminals first:
“I was more mad that there was something happening in the city that couldn’t be controlled.
“At the end of the day, people are going to figure out how to do that if they want to steal a vehicle.
“They need to take a deeper look at what was happening then and is happening now, and it still hasn’t changed.
“They’ve just been talking about change and nothing really has.”
Hyundai said in a statement:
“Hyundai is committed to ensuring the quality and integrity of our products.
“All Hyundai vehicles meet the anti-theft requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 114.
“In response to increasing thefts targeting Hyundai vehicles without push-button ignitions and immobilizing anti-theft devices in the U.S., Hyundai has introduced a free anti-theft software upgrade to prevent the vehicles from starting during a method of theft popularized on TikTok and other social media.”
Check out this documentary video of the Kia Boys in Milwaukee. Some of the Kia Boys steal 30 cars because they run through them because they can’t drive. https://t.co/roDAsDEiY3
— Chris Lawrence (@chrislawrence87) May 12, 2023
Baltimore is joining the growing number of U.S. cities to sue Hyundai and Kia over their failure to install anti-theft software in their vehicles, according to the lawsuit. By @MaddiONeill: https://t.co/gi5czRDpTB
— The Daily Record (@MDDailyRecord) May 11, 2023
— CAN Bus Dutch (@CanBusDutch) May 4, 2023
Kia said in a statement:
“We thank the Attorneys General for the opportunity to let them know what we have done and will continue to do to combat this rise in car theft and the role social media has played in encouraging it.
“We are committed to working with these officials and with law enforcement agencies at the state and local level to ensure vehicle security.
“To be clear, Kia began testing and developing a free software upgrade to restrict the unauthorized operation of vehicle ignition systems months ago.
“We have already directly contacted over 1.1 million owners and lessees of impacted Kia vehicles to let them know of the availability of the software upgrade and to advise them to schedule a free installation at any Kia dealer.
“We are scheduled to contact over 2 million such owners and lessees by the end of March.
“Dealers who have installed the free upgrade report successful installation takes under an hour to complete, and customer feedback has been positive.
“In addition to this upgrade, we have already provided more than 23,000 steering wheel locks to over 120 law enforcement agencies across the country for them to distribute – at no cost – to impacted owners.
“We will continue to make these locks available – at no cost – as they are needed.
“We have also distributed hundreds of free steering wheel locks directly to impacted customers.
“On top of that, we have also established a website where owners can use their VIN to review the status of their vehicle’s eligibility for the free software upgrade and can receive more information about directly obtaining a free steering wheel lock from Kia.
“We are also in contact with major insurance carriers so they are aware of the actions we have taken and we are actively working with them to ensure our customers have access to quality and comprehensive coverage.
“Kia owners can contact our Customer Care team directly at 1-800-333-4542 (4Kia) or online at the dedicated website for more information on their eligibility for the free upgrade or to learn more about obtaining a free steering wheel lock.”
