1200 bikes stolen per day in UK ?

[Banjo]

Watched a program on tv about police in Kent setting up a sting for bike thieves.

They planted a mtb outside a medical center frequented by drug abusers.

They followed it to a house where all kinds of crime was occuring and arrested the thief.

The frightening fact mentioned in the programme was the incredible figure of 1200 stolen bikes per day in UK.

I am sure the Final Police Warning issued to the thief will act as a real detterent.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Warnings from the police have the same fear effect as Water-boarding don't you know!!!

Watched a program on tv about police in Kent setting up a sting for bike thieves.

They planted a mtb outside a medical center frequented by drug abusers.

They followed it to a house where all kinds of crime was occuring and arrested the thief.

The frightening fact mentioned in the programme was the incredible figure of 1200 stolen bikes per day in UK.

I am sure the Final Police Warning issued to the thief will act as a real detterent.

 

[ColinJ]

Bike thieves are costing UK cyclists £35 million each year, according to Direct Line Home Insurance.

Incidents of the crime are now happening so frequently that 1,200 bikes are stolen each day in the UK – which equates to over 439,000 bikes annually.

Yet despite the increase in stolen bikes – cyclists are failing to protect themselves financially. Over half (54 per cent) of those experiencing bike theft failed to properly cover themselves. Of these, one in five (20 per cent) did not extend their home insurance to cover bikes locked up in public, and were subsequently left unprotected. A similar number (21 per cent) said they simply took the risk.

The extent of this bike crime wave was made clear in a live experiment carried out by Direct Line, with bikes locked up in the centre of ten major cities. After 24 hours, the majority had been stolen, with half of these disappearing within two hours of being locked up.

Bikes vanished most quickly in London (Croydon), lasting less than an hour before being taken, followed by Manchester and Liverpool, where they stayed put for less than two hours.

Press release

 

[oliglynn]

Direct line should have constantly monitored the bikes, caught the thieving scum, taken them down a deserted alley, stripped them of all their possessions, beaten them senseless and made them eat the bike they just tried to steal, bit by bit.

That'll learn 'em.

 

[2Loose]

I see the figure of 64m quids worth of bikes stolen in 2006. That would pay for quite a few police officers and still let the insurance companies make a profit.

As Oliglynn suggests, they should have monitored the thefts and removed some of the reasons for thefts there and then, but instead they sit back and put premiums up while they watch.

 

[Cyclopathic]

Direct line should have constantly monitored the bikes, caught the thieving scum, taken them down a deserted alley, stripped them of all their possessions, beaten them senseless and made them eat the bike they just tried to steal, bit by bit.

That'll learn 'em.

Then make them recover the bits and put the bikes back together again and go on a forced sponsered non stop ride from lands end to j.o.g. raising money for charity.

 

[Davidc]

Then make them recover the bits and put the bikes back together again and go on a forced sponsered non stop return ride from lands end to j.o.g. on a bike with a sharp spike for a saddle raising money for charity.

FTFY

 

[Sambot]

FTFY

Now that would be a charity ride well worth sponsoring (not too sure I'd be entering it).

 

[david1701]

could it be a buy everyone a new bike charity

 

[rusty bearing]

Frankly I'm all for bringing back the Stocks, rotten fruit and a little public humiliation. Sod there human rights, if you break the law these should be forfeit!
Grrrrhhhhg!

 

[Cyclopathic]

There really should be a whole section of new laws brought in to deal very specifically with all aspects of bicycle theft. It's different from other sorts of theft. Of all the things I've ever had stolen or burgled the thing that has affected me and upset me the most has been when I've had a bike nicked. I think I've had about 4 nicked in total in my lifetime. None of them very special and I doubt any of them fetched more than the lowest amount possible to get another bag of drugs, but they were special to me and in some cases my sodding transport home.
I could lie awake for nights dreaming up ways of dealing with bike theives.

I'd like to see a lot more secure areas for locking bikes up in. There is The Bike Park in Leicester who will look after your bike all day for a quid which I use when in town. It's just nice knowing that I'm not going to come back to an empty bike rack. I think though there is a case for more places like this or for busineses to offer some sort of bike park the way that they have a car park. I'm sure a way of doing it cheaply and effectively could be worked out.

 

[summerdays]

Direct Line said:
The extent of this bike crime wave was made clear in a live experiment carried out by Direct Line, with bikes locked up in the centre of ten major cities. After 24 hours, the majority had been stolen, with half of these disappearing within two hours of being locked up.

That makes you think you could never lock up a bike in a city centre without it being stolen. What kind of lock were they using and were the bikes really nice ones anyway? I'm not saying it doesn't happen but that the way they have reported it you would think you had been somehow extremely lucky to come back and find your bike still there. I admit I don't usually lock it up over night in town, but in town ... quite regularly - I'm sure at some point I will be unlucky. (Or last week I went out and left it propped up outside my house for an hour and it was still there when I got back!!).

 

[irw]

I've locked my bike up plenty of times in Liverpool city centre, although admittedly not overnight, and generally with a D-lock and cable lock, and if I am leaving it for a fairly lengthy time, I tend to leave it at the racks at Lime Street Station.

 

[Cubist]

Both property stores in my division are absolutely full to bursting with knackered BSOs and old style commuters. The property clerks tell me they get about two or three "found" bikes per week, per side of the division. These are graded and sent to charities for recycling or to the scrapman if damaged. Any quality bikes are set to one side and sent to auction. (One Marin Full Susser went to auction and was snapped up for 90 quid last month)

My point? Not one of these bikes are ever claimed. The front office staff report that they rarely, if ever, get reports of lost bikes. None of them x-index to reported stolen bikes. My theory, (shared by the property clerks) is that these BSOs are bought, neglected, dumped in parks and side streets, and insurance claims launched based on mis-descriptions.

I am not trying to assert that bike theft doesn't happen, but I am trying to come to terms with the insurance industry's figures!

 

[Globalti]

When I found my bike and took it to the Police the bored clerk, on hearing its value, said "Oh well, we won't just throw it on the heap in the shed with all the others then!"