One More Urban Nightmare : If you find yourself facing a carjacker, Rule No. 1 well may be ‘Don’t resist.’

As if there weren’t urban nightmares enough, now comes “carjacking.” It is a particularly difficult crime to defend against; no one who drives is immune, and no security system provides full protection.

For those who become a carjacker’s victim, the best reaction is not to resist; no personal property, even an expensive automobile, is worth a serious injury or a life.

Ironically, law enforcement officials say that hijacking of automobiles and other vehicles may be on the rise in part because anti-theft devices are becoming better. Also, some street gangs are said to require new members to steal a car directly from a driver as an initiation rite.

Earlier this week, there was a spate of carjackings in Orange County, including one in which a man leaving his Fullerton apartment was shot when he refused to hand over his car keys. In another, a woman escaped after she was ordered out of her car at a red light in Anaheim; it is worth noting that the victim did not resist and was physically unharmed.

Possibly the nation’s most shocking carjacking occurred when a Howard, Md., mother died after she was dragged for 1 1/2 miles, caught in her seat-belt mechanism.

A recent incident that sent a chill through automobile-addicted Southern California was the one in which Sherri Foreman, 29, and her 13-week-old fetus died after Foreman was stabbed in a hijacking attempt upon returning to her car from an automatic teller in Sherman Oaks. A suspect was arrested Wednesday.

The state Legislature is considering two measures that would stiffen penalties for carjackers. Taking a harder line against carjackers is helpful, but it isn’t likely to end these crimes, some of them perhaps committed by people who terrorize just for the thrill of it.

There are a few simple precautions that all drivers should take: Lock doors, keep windows up and avoid poorly lit streets. Withdrawing money after dark from automatic tellers is probably not a good idea either.

Most important of all, however, is to resist the temptation to resist.