The city of Buffalo has filed suit against Kia and Hyundai seeking to hold the carmakers responsible for the rash of auto thefts caused by their alleged failure to include industry-standard anti-theft technology.
Buffalo looks to join Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, St. Louis, Madison, Milwaukee and Seattle in litigation claiming that the cars are too easy to steal because they lack immobilizing technology found in most other vehicles.
According to police, thefts of Hyundais and Kias have made up as much as two-thirds of all vehicle thefts in Buffalo, according to officials.
“These vehicles are being stolen at an alarming rate due to the lack of immobilizing technology. This has resulted in a significant issue that impacts our police resources and the community that we serve,” said Police Commissioner Joseph A. Gramaglia. “Most tragically, it poses a threat to public safety because it goes hand in hand with reckless driving, which in turn results in injuries and death.”
Buffalo is hoping to force Hyundai and Kia fix the cars and address the effects of the crime wave.
According to a report by the Highway Loss Data Institute, theft claim frequencies and overall losses for Hyundai and Kia vehicles without standard passive immobilizers increased dramatically in 2021. Hyundai and Kia have lagged other manufacturers in installing standard immobilizers. For 2015 models, only 26 percent of Hyundai and Kia vehicle series had passive immobilizers as standard equipment, compared with 96 percent of other manufacturers.
Hyundai and Kia claim frequencies were almost 80 percent higher than those of all other manufacturers combined for January–June 2021, according to HLDI.
The problem has apparently been exacerbated by TikTok videos showing how to steal the cars. This had led to at least 14 reported crashes and eight fatalities, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in February.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has also blamed the TikTok “auto theft challenge” videos for a rise in auto thefts in the city. New York police said they have made more than 100 arrests for thefts of Kias and Hyundais already this year. “This challenge in particular with Kia and Hyundai, we see it as not only stealing a vehicle, but it’s stealing the future of our young people,” Adams said at a press briefing last week.
Last month, the Korean automakers said they would offer software upgrades to 8.3 million U.S. vehicles to help curb increasing car thefts using the method popularized on TikTok.
Last week, 22 U.S. state attorneys general criticized Hyundai and Kia and said they need do more to address the problem with millions of U.S. vehicles that are prone to theft.
At least two major insurers, Progressive and State Farm, have said they are increasing rates and limiting new policies for the theft-prone vehicles.
Kia said it is working with insurers to ensure its customers have access to comprehensive insurance coverage.
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