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New Year’s Day rings in more car thefts than any other holiday

Kevin Lyons

As you prepare to say goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012, add this promise to the top of your New Year’s resolution list: Lock the car doors.

More cars are stolen on New Year’s Day than any other holiday, according to a study by the nonprofit National Insurance Crime Bureau. Memorial Day, Halloween, Labor Day and New Year’s Eve rounded out the list of the five busiest holidays for car thieves.

If your car is stolen, the loss will be covered if you have optional comprehensive coverage as part of your auto insurance. Liability insurance, which is mandatory in 48 states, doesn’t cover car theft.

There’s no real science behind why New Year’s Day is the top holiday for vehicle theft, says Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for the crime bureau.

“So it could be something as simple as people sleeping off the night before and leaving their vehicles parked longer than anticipated, making them vulnerable to theft,” Scafidi tells InsuranceQuotes.com.

The crime bureau analyzed car thefts reported to the National Crime Information Center for 11 holidays in 2010. A total of 20,995 vehicles were stolen on holidays in 2010, compared with 22,991 for those same days in 2009.

The National Crime Information Center also examined car thefts on each day in 2010 and reported there were 775,192 vehicle thefts for the year — about 2,124 a day. The busiest day for car thieves in 2010 was June 1, when 3,001 cars were reported stolen, according to the center’s data.

The center also looked at holiday car thefts by state. Not surprisingly, the most populated states reported the most holiday car thefts, with thieves in California (3,971) being the busiest, according to crime center’s data. Texas, Florida, Illinois and Georgia rounded out the top five.

Here are the busiest holidays for car thieves in 2010, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau:

1. New Year’s Day (2,347).

2. Memorial Day (2,122).

3. Halloween (2,064).

4. Labor Day (2,020).

5. New Year’s Eve (1,986).

6. Christmas Eve (1,928).

7. Independence Day (1,914).

8. Presidents Day (1,903).

9. Valentine’s Day (1,605).

10. Christmas Day (1,361).