Originally Posted by topanga

Well, yeah, but "avoiding break ins" is a pretty much unheard of concept in Austin. I am probably the ONE person you will hear of having a break in here this year. Which means the person probably was sufficiently desperate and/or stupid that he would have broken the car even if the door was open. There are NEVER break ins here, like NEVER, like NEEEVVVVEEEERRRRR. It wouldn't even have occurred to me to do anything anti-theft. The only reason I locked it was that the last time I was down by UT late at night, some kids got in and smoked a joint in my car. I really did not want to be driving home at 2 am (when my movie ended) with a car smelling like pot and risk a $2500 DUI. The real lesson is not to hang around the school at night. It's just not all that fun.

Originally Posted by Skid Row Joe

That's odd that kids would use an unlocked car just to smoke a doobee......but be that as it may - I'd still leave it (an old MB) unlocked after this particular experience. I parked my motorcoach in downtown Austin near 6th Street one early evening in the dead of summer a couple years ago, and had no trouble. However there are no guarantees. Q: If you weren't DUI while driving, the smell of marijuana in your car could not convict you. Unless you blew a DUI or your blood tests DUI, what would you worry about?