AMERICAN stolen vehicle recovery system LoJack - known as Tracker in the UK - causes a reduction of one vehicle theft for every three Tracker devices installed and there are signs of the same effect in the UK, according to a new report. The study by Harvard and Yale Universities looked at the effect of LoJack on vehicle theft and professor Steve Levitt, of Harvard University, said: 'My preliminary analysis of figures taken during the first three-and-a-half-years of Tracker operation in the UK appears to mirror that which we have found in America.'

The report estimates that the benefits of installing Tracker in vehicles is approximately 10 times greater than the cost of installation of each unit. However, the study took a swipe at insurance companies, saying the greatest benefits accrue to insurance companies which not only gain from the higher retrieval rates of Tracker-equipped vehicles, but also from the overall reduction in vehicle theft.

As a result the report authors say the insurance premium discounts provided to motorists with Tracker-fitted vehicles are 'far below the gains that Tracker provides to the insurers'.