Letter Re: Electric Garage Doors as a Point of Entry for Burglars and Home Invaders

Hi Jim,
Just a short comment: As I read the piece about preventing home invasion robberies, I thought of another thing most people don’t think too much about regarding this issue.
Most people who have electric garage door openers tend to leave the remote on the visor of their vehicle.

If the car is left unlocked in the yard or street, it is very simple for a ne’er-do-well to snag the controller and wait until no one is home to invade the garage, Or in some cases when you are home.  I would recommend removing the controller from the visor, and placing is somewhere where it is not obvious in the car, and locking the vehicle when you leave it all the time.

Also, when you leave home for an extended period of time, turn off the breaker that energizes the garage door opener, and latch the inside door lock to help deter burglars. It is possible for some criminal types to get an opener or several brands of openers, and go around changing codes just to see if they can open up doors in neighborhoods.

I realized this recently when I walked up to my truck and pushed the button from the outside when I need to get into the garage and didn’t happen to have my key available.
Needless to say, my opener is no longer on the visor, or any other obvious place in the vehicle.

Blessings, – Dave in Oregon