Safety Tips

FOR ANY EMERGENCY CALL: 911

Police – Fire – Ambulance – Ocean Rescue

North Carolina Highway Laws: DO NOT:

  • Pass on the right shoulder of highways.
  • Drive while intoxicated or impaired.
  • Transport open containers of alcohol.
  • Follow traffic too closely.

North Carolina Seat Belt Laws: BUCKLE UP – IT’S THE LAW!

  • Children under 5 must be secured in
  • child car seats.
  • All children ages 5 to 16 must be in
  • seat belts.
  • All front seat passengers must wear seat belts.
  • North Carolina Laws:
  • Must be 21 to consume alcoholic beverages.
  • A blood alcohol level of .08 is considered legally drunk.
  • Everyone under the age of 16 must wear a helmet when riding a bicycle.

Tips For A Fun & Safe Outer Banks Vacation
Have fun & enjoy our beautiful islands!

  • Remember to lock your condo or rental home, especially the ground level, porch and windows, when away. Always lock your car, even at your rental home. Place valuables out of sight; lock them in the trunk or cover them with a towel.
  • Don’t leave a wallet, camera, radio or other valuables on the beach unattended.
  • Lifeguards can help locate lost children. Make sure you and your children know your rental home’s address and phone number. Arrange a place to meet if you and your children are separated.
  • Don’t leave bathing suits, wetsuits, fishing gear and other equipment (i.e., bikes, surfboards, skateboards, windsurfers, etc.) unsecured around your rental home, hotel or vehicle.
  • Never walk the beach or uninhabited areas alone at night. Take note of your location (landmark, street number, town, etc.) before starting your walk.
  • The ocean is your friend! Be aware of rip currents and ocean conditions. Always swim close to lifeguard stations.
  • RED FLAGS mean unsafe ocean swimming conditions exist. See the nearest lifeguard stand for the latest ocean conditions.

21 Things Your Burglar Won’t Tell You:

  1. Of course I look familiar. I was here just last week cleaning your carpets, painting your shutters, or delivering your new refrigerator.
  2. Hey, thanks for letting me use the bathroom when I was working in your yard last week. While I was in there, I unlatched the back window to make my return a little easier.
  3. Love those flowers. That tells me you have taste… and taste means there are nice things inside. Those yard toys your kids leave out always make me wonder what type of gaming system they have.
  4. Yes, I really do look for newspapers piled up on the driveway. And I might leave a pizza flyer in your front door to see how long it takes you to remove it.
  5. If it snows while you’re out of town, get a neighbor to create car and foot tracks into the house. Virgin drifts in the driveway are a dead giveaway.
  6. If decorative glass is part of your front entrance, don’t let your alarm company install the control pad where I can see if it’s set. That makes it too easy.
  7. A good security company alarms the window over the sink. And the windows on the second floor, which often access the master bedroom — and your jewelry. It’s not a bad idea to put motion detectors up there too.
  8. It’s raining, you’re fumbling with your umbrella, and you forget to lock your door-understandable. But understand this: I don’t take a day off because of bad weather. 9. I always knock first. If you answer, I’ll ask for directions to somewhere or offer to clean your gutters. (Don’t take me up on it.)
  9. Do you really think I won’t look in your sock drawer? I always check dresser drawers, the bedside table, and the medicine cabinet.
  10. Here’s a helpful hint: I almost never go into kids’ rooms.
  11. You’re right: I won’t have enough time to break into that safe where you keep your valuables. But if it’s not bolted down, I’ll take it with me.
  12. A loud TV or radio can be a better deterrent than the best alarm system. If you’re reluctant to leave your TV on while you’re out of town, you can buy a $35 device that works on a timer and simulates the flickering glow of a real television.
  13. Sometimes, I carry a clipboard. Sometimes, I dress like a lawn guy and carry a rake. I do my best to never, ever look like a crook.
  14. The two things I hate most: loud dogs and nosy neighbors.
  15. I’ll break a window to get in, even if it makes a little noise. If your neighbor hears one loud sound, he’ll stop what he’s doing and wait to hear it again. If he doesn’t hear it again, he’ll just go back to what he was doing. It’s human nature.
  16. I’m not complaining, but why would you pay all that money for a fancy alarm system and leave your house without setting it?
  17. I love looking in your windows. I’m looking for signs that you’re home, and for flat screen TVs or gaming systems I’d like. I’ll drive or walk through your neighborhood at night, before you close the blinds, just to pick my targets.
  18. Avoid announcing your vacation on your Facebook page. It’s easier than you think to look up your address.
  19. To you, leaving that window open just a crack during the day is a way to let in a little fresh air. To me, it’s an invitation.
  20. If you don’t answer when I knock, I try the door. Occasionally, I hit the jackpot and walk right in.

( Sources: Convicted burglars in North Carolina , Oregon , California , and Kentucky; security consultant Chris McGoey, who runs crimedoctor.com
<http://crimedoctor.com/> ; and Richard T. Wright, a criminology professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, who interviewed 105 burglars for his book Burglars on the Job. )

Home Burglary Prevention Tips
By far, the most common threat to our home is burglary. According to the FBI, a burglary occurs somewhere in the United States every 15.4 seconds. The majority of home and apartment burglaries occur during the daytime when most people are away at work or school. Favorite items are cash, jewelry, guns, watches, laptop computers, VCRs, video players, CDs and other small electronic devices are high on the list. Statistics tell us that 70% of the burglars use some amount force to enter a dwelling, but their preference is to gain easy access through an open door or window.

Although home burglaries may seem random in occurrence, they actually involve a selection process. The burglar’s selection process is simple. Choose an unoccupied home with the easiest access, the greatest amount of cover, and with the best escape routes.

Doors and Locks
The first step is to harden the target or make your home more difficult to enter. Remember, the burglar will simply bypass your home if it requires too much effort or requires more skill and tools than they possess. Experienced burglars know that the garage door is usually the weakest point of entry followed by the back door. Use high quality Grade-1 or Grade-2 locks on exterior doors to resist twisting, prying, and lock-picking attempts.

  • Use a solid core or metal door for all entrance points
  • Use a quality, heavy-duty, deadbolt lock with a one-inch throw bolt
  • Use a quality, heavy-duty, knob-in-lock set with a dead-latch mechanism
  • Use a heavy-duty, four-screw, strike plate with 3-inch screws to penetrate into a wooden door frame
  • Use a wide-angle 160° peephole mounted no higher than 58 inches

The most common way used to force entry through a door with a wooden jamb is to simply kick it open. The weakest point is almost always the lock strike plate that holds the latch or lock bolt in place followed by a glass paneled door. The average door strike plate is secured only by the soft-wood doorjamb molding. These lightweight moldings are often tacked on to the door frame and can be torn away with a firm kick. Because of this construction flaw, it makes sense to upgrade to a four-screw, heavy-duty, high security strike plate. They are available in most quality hardware stores and home improvement centers and are definitely worth the extra expense. Install this heavy-duty strike plate using 3-inch wood screws to cut deep into the door frame stud. Use these longer screws in the knob lock strike plate as well and use at least one long screw in each door hinge. This one step alone will deter or prevent most through-the-door forced entries. You and your family will sleep safer in the future.

Sliding-Glass Patio Doors
Sliding glass doors are secured by latches not locks. They are vulnerable to being forced open from the outside because of these inherently defective latch mechanisms. This can be easily be prevented by inserting a wooden dowel or stick into the track thus preventing or limiting movement. Other blocking devices available are metal fold-down blocking devices called “charley bars” and various track-blockers that can be screwed down.

The blocking devices described above solve half the equation. Older sliding glass doors can be lifted up and off their track and thereby defeat the latch mechanism. To prevent lifting, you need to keep the door rollers in good condition and properly adjusted. You can also install anti-lift devices such as a pin that extends through both the sliding and fixed portion of the door. Place highly visible decals on the glass door near the latch mechanism that indicates that an alarm system, a dog, or block watch/operation identification is in place. Burglars dislike alarm systems and definitely big barking dogs.

  • Use a secondary blocking device on all sliding glass doors
  • Keep the latch mechanism in good condition and properly adjusted
  • Keep sliding door rollers in good condition and properly adjusted
  • Use anti-lift devices such as through-the-door pins or upper track screws
  • Use highly visible alarm decals, beware of dog decals or block watch decal

Windows
An open window, visible from the street or alley, may be the sole reason for your home to be selected by a burglar. Windows have latches, not locks and therefore should have secondary blocking devices to prevent sliding them open from the outside. Inexpensive wooden dowels and sticks work well for horizontal sliding windows and through-the-frame pins work well for vertical sliding windows. For ventilation, block the window open no more than six inches and make sure you can’t reach in from the outside and remove the blocking device or reach through and unlock the door.

As a deterrent, place highly visible decals on the glass door near the latch mechanism that indicates that an alarm system, a dog, or block watch/operation identification system is in place.

  • Secure all accessible windows with secondary blocking devices
  • Block accessible windows open no more than 6 inches for ventilation
  • Make sure someone cannot reach through an open window and unlock the door
  • Make sure someone cannot reach inside the window and remove the blocking device
  • Use anti-lift devices to prevent window from being lifted out
  • Use crime prevention or alarm decals on ground accessible windows

For more tips, please visit: http://www.crimedoctor.com/home.htm