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PHOENIX - If the thought of having your car stolen isn't enough to get you to take your keys, how about the possibility your insurance company won't pay for it?

That's the contention of Sen. Linda Gray. The Glendale Republican is pushing legislation that would allow insurers to refuse to reimburse policyholders if the companies can show that the keys were left anywhere in the vehicle. They would not have had to be in the ignition.

Gray's proposal also would allow insurers to refuse to pay for items stolen from cars in similar circumstances.

Arizona has the second highest rate of auto theft in the nation. Enrique Cantu, director of the Arizona Automobile Theft Authority, said his agency estimates that one in five stolen vehicles were unlocked at the time.

Cantu said, though, there are no firm figures detailing how many times car thieves had access to the keys. He estimated that theft of running vehicles amounted to no more than 2 percent of all stolen cars.

But Gray said it is a problem.

"I see it all the time,'' she said. Gray related a recent incident where she drove up to a convenience store and a delivery truck was out front.

"Yes, the guy was delivering magazines for the store," she said. "But the vehicle was running." More problematic are those situations where there are living victims.

"How many times have we seen where the kids are in the car and the parent has left the vehicle running?" she asked. "And then we have to put out an Amber Alert because of that."

Gray said the problem affects even conscientious motorists because more stolen cars means higher auto theft insurance rates for everyone. But she conceded that approval of her legislation may not mean that insurance companies will lower their premiums.

"Getting them to give up their profits is another issue," she said.