TikTok issue leading to car theft and death forces Hyundai and Kia to deploy anti-theft software

Hyundai and Kia are releasing software updates to stop a slew of car thefts linked to the TikTok issue, which authorities say has led to at least 14 reported crashes and eight deaths.

Updates are free for millions of vehicles missing a key anti-theft device, a problem that has been exploited on social media and has led to rampant car theft.

The software being released updates the theft alarm software logic to increase the duration of the beep from 30 seconds to one minute and requires the key to be in the ignition to turn on the vehicle.

About 3.8 million Hyundais and 4.5 million Kias are eligible for the software update, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tuesday.

Hyundai said updates will begin on Tuesday for nearly 4 million vehicles, starting with a million 2017-2020 Elantra, 2015-2019 Sonata and 2020-2021 Venue vehicles. The software update is expected to be available for the remaining eligible vehicles by June.

“We are prioritizing upgrade availability for owners and renters of our best-selling vehicles, as well as those vehicles most often targeted by thieves, so that dealers service them first,” said Randy Parker, CEO of Hyundai Motor America.

In September, the Accident Data Institute, a division of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, found that Hyundai and Kias vehicles without immobilizers had a vehicle theft claim rate of 2.18 per 1,000 insured vehicles per year. In the rest of the industry, this figure was 1.21. The year of the insured vehicle is equal to one vehicle insured for one year.

The institute compared cars from 2015 to 2019 model years. It has looked into allegations of vehicle theft since 2021.

Hyundai says all models released after November 1, 2021 have immobilizers as standard equipment.

The TikTok social media challenge drew attention to the lack of an immobilizer in vehicles and resulted in at least 14 reported crashes and eight deaths, according to the NHTSA. The challenge shows TikTok viewers how to connect Kia and Hyundai vehicles using a USB cable and a screwdriver.

In October, a police commissioner said a car crash in Buffalo, New York that killed four teenagers could have been linked to a TikTok challenge. According to Buffalo police, as a result of the incident, six teenagers were in a Kia crashed at high speed. The car was reportedly stolen.

Hyundai and Kia will begin the software update later this month, with subsequent phases rolling out over the next few months. Hyundai will also provide vehicle owners with window stickers that warn would-be thieves that the car is theft-proof.

Vehicle owners can contact Hyundai at 800-633-5151 and Kia at 800-333-4542 for software update information.

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