NEW ORLEANS — The NOPD has about 300 steering wheel locks to give out to Kia owners to help protect them against the high rate of stolen vehicles in the city.
New Orleans has had several hundred vehicles stolen in 2023 already and a large portion of those, according to police, are Hyundais and Kias, after a social media video showed how some of them could easily be stolen.
The NOPD has been giving out steering wheel locks for Hyundais for a couple of weeks, running out on the first supply and receiving a second.
There apparently was a supply chain delay in getting similar locks from Kia.
The NOPD will have the locks at each of its eight districts and they are free of charge for New Orleans residents with affected Kias. You need to show ownership or a lease agreement for a Kia and prove Orleans Parish residency to receive one.
Several models of Kia and Hyundai vehicles, which do not have engine immobilizers installed, have been stolen at twice the rate of other models of vehicles nationwide. About a quarter of vehicles stole in New Orleans in 2022 were Kia and Hyundai models.
In a statement, Kia wrote to Eyewitness News: “Kia has been been developing and testing enhanced security software for vehicles not originally equipped with an immobilizer and has started notifying owners of certain models of the availability of this software upgrade at no cost to consumers. Kia anticipates that it will make software upgrades available for most affected vehicles by mid-2023.”
Thursday evening, Hyundai confirmed a similar project to Eyewitness News. They say their software should be available “early next month” and should deter thefts of affected vehicles. A Hyundai spokesperson said it will have more details on the software closer to the release date.
In a story WWL-TV broke Wednesday, State Farm insurance has deemed more than 100 models of Kia and Hyundai vehicles ‘ineligible’ for new coverage in Louisiana and some other states after a spike in thefts of those vehicles.