I imagine a lot of people don't use a key to get in their house, nor do they use the front door. Hit the button on the garage door remote, drive in, walk into house.
When I was in the states we were discussing this with a friend. He idly noted that after a valet gets into your car he can just select "drive home" in the GPS, open the garage with the integrated garage door opener, and just walk into the house.
He then added "It's good that I always lock the door in the garage too".
I also lock that door in case a second garage door is left unlocked. Then again, I lock doors during the day when I'm home out of habit. Did this before a recent break-in attempt, so hardly discouraged by that.
If I ever have a break-in I imagine it will immediately change my habits. Knock-on-wood, has never happened to me yet.
I do have auto-closers on the garage doors, however, because my kids do have a habit of leaving them open otherwise. Of course, they also keep leaving the man-doors unlocked all day as well.
I got a notice in the mail from our county's assessor because they left three door tags at my house. I almost never open the front door. I go in and out of the garage, and let my cat out the back.
For many people, there's no need to unlock the front door because it's never locked. Having to lock your door just means you're living in a terrible neighborhood.
Not sure about the US, but in the UK where I have more experience having my stuff stolen, if you rob a house and the door is locked it is a far more serious crime than if the door is unlocked. Big reason people made sure to lock their doors in my neighbourhood growing up since 90% of the yobs would just check if doors were locked, not actually dare to break in.
> in the UK where I have more experience having my stuff stolen, if you rob a house and the door is locked it is a far more serious crime than if the door is unlocked.
This doesn't make much sense from first principles. I assume everyone agrees that theft is equally unwelcome regardless of whether the door was locked. But the additional damages from breaking into a locked home are pretty minor compared to the damages of the theft. Why would there be a large difference in punishment?
So what? The claim is that it's a "far more serious crime" to enter your house and take the bicycle mounted on the wall, when the door was locked, than to enter your house and take the bicycle mounted on the wall, when the door was unlocked.
The bigger issue is insurance. If you have stuff stolen and there's no sign of forced entry (home or vehicle) then your insurance company will likely be asking questions about how exactly the thieves gained access.
Even if you live in a "good"neighborhood you could still be burgled by someone casing the neighborhood/home. Do people really not lock their houses when they leave? My parents always taught us to lock the house on the way out, even when we lived out in the country.
I don't get the downvotes for this. A dog who doesn't like strangers is a pretty traditional security system, and is much, much more secure than a locked door.
It really really isn't. That stranger can become an instant friend with some food. There was a show once where an ex-burglar would break into people's homes to show how easy it was. People would say, "there's no way he's getting past my dog!" and the guy would just open up the fridge and throw all the meat on the floor. End of problem.
Statistically, you are by far the most dangerous person in your life. You are far more likely to hurt yourself than a stranger is. Should some ne'er-do-well enter your unlocked door, remind them of this and start giggling. 'We were just waiting to see who will come!', works too though.
> Having to lock your door just means you're living in a terrible neighborhood.
Interesting. Is that an American thing? I do recall that most of my American friends don't lock their doors, whereas I can only think of a handful of people not locking their doors in Europe - and those live in remote outposts, where people are scarce and deer are unlikely to use the door handle.
Growing up, we did not even have a key for our house. Lots of places around the US, there is no need for keys. It is really hard for some people to grasp the idea based on how and where they grew up. My wife grew up in a gang riddled area and will not abide unlocked doors if we are out and about.
My parents never locked the doors growing up, but I still lock the door of my own house. My parents never gave me a key when I was a kid, so it was probably left unlocked so I could always get back in. I'm not sure why they didn't just make sure we all had a key so they could keep it locked. That's what my roommates and I do at our place now and it works fine.
She doesn't have her keys on her fob. Heck, last time I took her to get her oil changed, the key fob still had the little plastic removable key tag from the dealer she bought it from.
