By Andrew Lu
How can you prevent you car from being stolen? According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), the answer may be this: don’t live in California. The top 10 cities for car thefts in the U.S. was released by NICB, seven of the 10 cities are in California.

However, it wasn’t all bad news as car thefts fell nationwide for the second straight year, reports MSN. Relying on FBI figures, there was a 3.3 percent drop in car thefts from the 2010 total of 737,142.

Here are the top cities for car thefts list including the total number of stolen vehicles and thefts per 100,000 people:

1. Fresno, Calif.: 7,621 total thefts, or 808 per 100,000 people
2. Modesto, Calif.: 3,315 or 639 per 100,000
3. Bakersfield-Delano, Calif.: 5,240 or 615 per 100,000
4. Spokane, Wash.: 2,614 or 552 per 100,000
5. Yakima, Wash.: 1,308 or 529 per 100,000
6. San Francisco/Oakland/Fremont, Calif.: 23,223 or 529 per 100,000
7. Stockton, Calif.: 3,532 or 507 per 100,000
8. Anderson, S.C.: 911 or 483 per 100,000
9. Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif.: 2,002/481 per 100,000
10. Visalia-Porterville, Calif.: 2,124 or 473 per 100,000

Besides not living in California, the NICB also offered some tips on how to prevent your car from getting stolen. These include getting an audible alarm with motion or impact sensors, steering column collars that prevent hot-wiring of the vehicle, and steering wheel locks that are designed to be placed over the steering wheel.

These devices are relatively inexpensive and typically cost less than $100. If you live in one of the top cities for car thefts, this may be an investment worth making.

Source: Findlaw.com