There's a proven way to stop bike theft. So why are so few cities doing it?
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- Опубликовано: 17 июн 2024
- Bike theft isn't just a nuisance. It's a serious problem plaguing almost every city in the world, and it stifles bike-friendliness, discourages people from riding, fuels crime and undermines our sense of community. Yet almost no cities are doing anything to seriously tackle the problem.
Almost. One city in the world has come up with a way to combat bike theft that is staggeringly successful. The idea has cut bike theft in half in some neighourhoods, and kept theft down year after year. It's an idea so successful that you'd think people in every city would be scrambling to adapt it for their own use. But the idea has been frustratingly slow to spread.
In this video, I go deep on bike theft and look at its surprisingly broad ramifications and the reasons it has become such a stubborn urban problem. And I look at a program in Vancouver, Canada-a collaboration between the police, a company called 529 Garage and an army of community members-that has found so much success that its proponents are desperate to get other cities on board. But very few have done so, for reasons that might surprise and infuriate you.
0:00 Introduction
2:06 Chapter 1: The Implications
7:52 Chapter 2: The Apathy
10:46 Chapter 3: The Law
14:38 Chapter 4: The Solution
22:22 Chapter 5: The Bureaucracy
Project 529: project529.com/garage
McGill Study on bike theft: tram.mcgill.ca/Research/Publi...
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If you want to skip ahead to the solution (and miss the context 😉), go to:
14:40 Chapter 4: The Solution
more like 19:56 :-(
Add a 00:00 to the description, hope the segmentation will also show in the video
The amount of ads on this video is killing me.
No I don't want to return to the 14 minute mark . I'm getting bored. I might read some of the comments to see if they reveal the solution.
@@theodormontgomery311 darn. I missed it. I'm at the 21 minute mark and I'm still guessing. Bicycle registration. Right
I found my stolen bike. It was in a police auction in the same building where I filled in a stolen bike report with its serial number.
Police are bad at their jobs! b/c their real jobs aren't to protect and serve us.
🤯I reported my bike last year , they never got back to me about it. Lol 😂 I am going to the police bike auction. Thanks for the idea 💡.
Seriously, this happened to me with my car.
the police stole it and tried to profit LOL
This^
They are complicit, because they use these stolen bikes to generate income. Proceeds of crime, and in so doing, are essentially organized crime.
They should donate the stolen bikes to poorer communities, to prevent more bike thefts, and not make a quick buck. That should be law.
Turns out Bike theft is stoppable by people(Local government/ police) actually treating it as a crime instead of just ignoring it.
It starts with non-western immigration. Look to Tokyo for how to not start it.
@@cccpkingu 😂😂
Non-western immigration. Tokyo.
Thanks. You just made my day.
(Just so you know for next time, Japan is in Asia and *everyone* there is non-western)
@@chyza2012 yes, I know exactly what "non-Western immigration" is code for. I was pointing out how he was commenting on autopilot and made a fool of himself as a result.
@@safe-keeper1042 Even if Japan wasn't now in the west, that would still not account for _immigration_.
@@cccpkingu missing the point, of course, but thx for playing.
When the state recovers your bike, does absolutely nothing to return it to you and then eventually auctions it (actually making a profit), I fail to see how it's not just another form of theft.
Uhm, what the Hell are they supposed to do about the Bikes?
If you registered your bike and better if you filed a complaint, the police will notice you, once it finds your bike. If you didn't - what the fuck is the Police supposed to do with them? Post an add campaign around town asking for the owner of this bike that got stolen?
They'll keep it there for a couple of weeks. And if there is still no owner afterwards, they have to get rid off the bike. Collecting them for eternity takes up way to much space. So I'm glad if they are legally allowed to auction those bikes. That way yes a little profit is made and the bike gets a new life. The only other alternative - again you can't store them forever - is to actually trash them and that's just the worst possible outcome.
@@sagichdirdochnicht4653 you are correct, probably I was too harsh on them.
But there are ways of improving that. Fact is, not many places have bike registration systems available. So when a bike is recovered by the police, an easy way would be first to consult said services if available, providing them with a picture of the bike and maybe frame serial numbers. If no registration service is available or no register was found, then put a numbered tag on the bike and upload pictures which can be taken in no time, tied to that numbered tag, to a website people can access and check for their bikes. Takes vastly less time than escorting people through a warehouse, or answering phone calls then looking for a bike that matches the description given by the caller.
So it is up to the state or whoever is encharged of temporary storage of the recovered assets, to offer a more efficient service. They would be doing themselves a favor, to be honest. Unless, of course, auctioning those assets proves more profitable (which is not unlikely in a vast number of places).
@@alessandropinto5204 The only way bike recovery is remotely possible is if manufactures put in some kind of barcode system that isn't easy to file off or remove. In general though the police response to bike theft is beyond weak, as to them bikes mean nothing. Even if bikes can easily cost 1-2k, or double that if an E bike.
Every one wants you to replace a car with a bike, but how can you possibly keep a job or reliably commute if your bike is stolen every few months. And the numbers are worse in area's with good bike infrastructure as the demand for bikes is higher.
@@sagichdirdochnicht4653 What if you hide some sort of identifier in your seat post, under the saddle, or in the handlebars?
@@kerbodynamicx472 it has to be standardized, so that it can be easily checked by anyone who wants to know if it's stolen
I have had four bikes stolen in Ottawa. The first and last time I called them about it they told me, "We won't look for it and if we find it we won't tell you."
Finally! An honest cop.
Honest, but still shitty.
That's a different kind of honesty that society rarely has today.
I it's a $1,000 bike, it's a felony.
The "proven way", disclosed twenty minutes in, is "a long term, community-wide, commitment to preventing bike theft".
Yeah - a community that doesn't include thieves. Basically, there's no way to PREVENT theft, just improved possibilities for return...
Thanks. I'm always eager not to watch these inflated videos just to extract 1 minute of information that I am looking for ^^
Yeah this video sucks
@@tedthesailor172 Maybe not entirely, but as you heard, it can be lowered to great extends without much effort.
And how do you create that community? You get people to ride bikes. Bit of a Catch-22, and far from easy.
This problem goes beyond bicycles ... Only once in my life I bought 4 new power tools. All 4 were stolen from my workshop while I was on the toilet. I took the invoices to the local cop shop. After 15 minutes I felt like a criminal idiot. The cop asked me questions about my family and employment situation and showed no interest in the invoices. He managed to dissuade me to ever report a theft again.
Mission accomplished on the cops part. Cops avoid paperwork at all costs. A criminal complaint means a report has to be completed.
You live in the Netherlands? Very recognizable haha
@@cebruthius no … in Australia
First bike stolen, a huffy BMX style, out of my back yard with a closed fence and dog-when I was about 10 years old. Must have been a neighbor kid. Second and third were bikes I used for my paper route when I was 12-14 - completely utilitarian with large frame and racks on them. Both times were locked in front of a supermarket. Fourth was stolen when I was in college, a nice mountain bike, when my roommate was doing laundry and left our apartment door open. I was talking a nap in my bedroom.
All of these events impacted me heavily at the time, shaking my faith in friends, neighbors and humanity in general. I also suspect that bike theft may be a sort of gateway crime that encourages crime to escalate.
I am so sad for you man that sucks...
that sucks :( I have a friend with a bike insurance but the insurance company ended the contract because too many of his bike got stolen in the university parking space. Sucks if the infrastructure doesnt support us cyclists
@letsplayminecraft5424 I mean, if criminals do ride them, stealing bikes sounds like a pretty good deal for them
That's some terrible luck to have 3 bikes stolen within months of each other.
Expensive bikes should just be used for rides and stops where you can always see the bike. Anything else, just use a cheap bike(under $500).His bikes were above mid range until the third, then still mid range.
This is what you have to do with diversity.
@@lightdark00 Brussels, Europe I ride in the street a 100e bike with a 150e locker, nobody dares to touch it!
Leaving your bike leaning against the wall for a minute or two is not bad luck, it's bad judgement. I would never do this in my city :)
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was stolen by the same person twice.
Leaving a bike unlocked outside a store isn't really bad luck, imo. Also leaving a bike locked outside overnight...
Can't get a warrant for a long running rumor about bike theft, but you can get a no-knock warrant to storm a house based on an anonymous tip (if it involves "illegal" drugs)
Interesting how that works. Of course pointing it out is now victimizing whatever class(es) of people to which the actual criminal committing the particular crime belongs. Sad. Weak. BROKE, NOT WOKE!
You: "My bike was stolen!"
Police: "Yeah, dude...now fill this form so we throw it into the dumpster."
You: "But I need my bike back! It's...stuffed with illegal drugs!"
Problem solved.
What is "a warrant for a long running rumor?"
Same thing goes for red flag laws, any random person can ask that your house be raided and your guns taken without any actual evidence and no opportunity for you to rebut the accusations. Both are straight up infringements on the 4th amendment
@@klausstock8020 love the use of the ellipsis!
I've used a triple locking strategy with the idea being that a bicycle thief wants to do the dastardly deed as quickly as possible. A sturdy U shaped kryptonite lock to anchor the bike frame to something solid as well as a cable lock to encompass both tires and a Master lock with a five inch shackle to straddle the rear tire spokes to the bike frame. All I can say is that I never had my mountain bike stolen while using this strategy which I applied religiously even for the shortest stop at a store. I was willing to take the extra minute or two assuming that the bicycle thief wasn't. I like the registry and sticker ideas.
Some bikes are stolen to order like cars. Mine would be if anyone tracks me. No lock or door or gate would keep the pro criminals out.
That sounds like a thorough and conscientious way of securing your bike. I'm getting back into bike riding in the city soon and I'll use the same strategy to make life hard for bike thieves.
I use the same strategy after 2 bikes were stolen from me. I figure if the thief is going to steal it he will have to work for it!
I've taken to doing that now that the majority of my trips are done by bike. I have a U/Cable combination, a bar lock, and a chain lock on my bike for any trip. It's annoying how long it takes me to lock my bike now but it's worth it for making sure I don't have 1 hour+ walk home
I do almost the same.. and even I have a chain/lock specially for the seat (even it's not the best and it's even a lil' damaged 😂)..
Sometimes I get in a 7/11 or something and it takes me longer to "take out" all the security stuff than going inside to get something ..and then keep all the security stuff 😂 buuuuuut I'd rather enjoy my ride, and having joy about that, and laughing at myself about that, than regret for not locking the love of my life 🙌🏼😍🚲
25:48
_"It would have been recovered, but it wouldn't've got back to you, and it would've gone to auction."_
And maybe that's part of why police departments don't get onboard? Because it costs them auction money. Reducing this particular crime hurts their bottom line.
Maybe just maybe police auctions shouldn't benefit the police directly, but the municipality for example.
@@SianaGearz
Yeah, and same with asset forfeiture, if we have to have that at all.
I find it insane that a police department is allowed to benefit from stolen property not being returned to their legal owner.
Sounds like one of the most american things …
@@SianaGearz Or allowed to do it AT all... What happens if you come across your bike once it's been sold on by the police?
It should still be YOUR property, but the other person bought it from the police... Which kind of makes the police traders in stolen property.
A few years back I found an obviously stolen bike abandoned on my property. I called the local police and they sent a car. The cop looked at the bike, shrugged and said "Just keep it, we have enough of them." I tried both the city and the county with no luck. Social media was not a thing back then, I did post a notice in the paper and still no luck. I ended up just giving it to a charity. I understand your frustration.
When talking about the registration of bikes and how this reunites owners with their recovered stolen bikes, Rob Brunt states that if you hadn't registered the bike, "it would have gotten recovered, but it wouldn't have gotten back to you, and it would have gone to auction."
Do all cities auction off their recovered bikes? Auctions seem like a financial incentive to NOT get hundreds of stolen bikes back into the hands of rightful owners. Who stands to benefit from money collected at these auctions? Police Department budgets? City budgets? Charities? The auction companies surely must benefit. Do they typically sell at auction below their value? That would benefit the buyers who know about the auctions. Following the money might help to explain some of the perceived apathy...
Went to a bike auction in the 80's at a police station and there had to be 300 bikes there
@@Cutlass_Rudd Same here but in the nineties and most went for very little.
@@phillhuddleston9445 On another note I just ordered an e-bike (Sondors) and they ask that I register the serial number of it with them after it arrives, so it might be a similar thing as this.
The same explains who stands to benefit from registering bikes with non-free software that you bring with you.
Police can't just take your bike if you come for it. They are however incentivised to collect as many stolen bikes as they can, so they can auction a portion of it. More bikes auctiones means more bikes returned
Whenever police say they are too busy with "serious crime" remember that most urban police departments spend 4% of their time on violent crime. So, yeah...
In the US the cops are the source for most violent crime as they're busy harassing and shooting minorities.
@@philipgrice1026 They use violence and trauma based conditioning against victims of organized crime and child trafficking to shut them up. I don't think people should put up with violent oppression of the non-violent, but they do, they all go along with it as if they're doing society good, cops, judges, lawyers, and doctors.
In the UK they spend a considerable amount of time trawling Twitter and Facebook for "offensive" posts. Steal a bike and you may get a warning if you get caught. Say something mean on the internet and you're in trouble. The world has gone crazy.
@@JaneDoe-em5zn Someone need to stop these violent doctors that are oppressing minorities!
@@victorro8760 They do it to majorities too. It's not just a minority problem.
The solution has been found in the 1920's. You put a licence plate (small!) on your bike that is divided in half. When you park your bike, you take away one half with you. Any bike running with just one half is suspect and police could check it out at any moment!
Cyclists dislike this idea, because license plates turn them into "suspected criminals". Not my words.
There has been an attempt to require license plates for bikes in Germany. That did not go well!
@@klausstock8020 I don't mean big license plates that are like car license plates, which obviously is a stupidity. I just mean very small ones, smaller than a package of cigarettes, with a number written on it in very small numbers, not to identify the owner of the vehicle from far away, but just like a key; when one part is missing, something is suspicious.
Juri the thing is, this idea would need this to become law and for everyone who had a bike to obtain one... and the sad thing is governments think this is not a problem worthy of that much effort.
@@disguisedcat1750 The law need not be involved. Look up "mutual aid"
Love it, love it, love it!
How many police forces still have "bike auctions" or otherwise have a revenue stream from the "disposal" of stolen bikes? Nothing stalls uptake like a perverse incentives.
As a married couple of 13 years, we've always had just one car (and I had a bike). Early on when I was attending university, I came out of my 1:00 pm class my bike was gone. I had thought I locked it up somewhere else so I walked around a bit trying to remember where I had locked it up but then I realized it had been stolen. I reported it to the police and luckily a classmate was walking out at that time and offered me a ride. It was devastating because that was my "car". I couldn't get to work/school/home without one. I borrowed my mom's old Schwinn for a few months. I'm 6'2" and the bike was much too small. I eventually replaced it and a few months later, the university police called me and they had recovered my bike. I consider myself extremely lucky but it is tragic when a bike goes missing. I wish it were treated more serious by cities/law enforcement.
Yes, it needs to treated more seriously because some people pay $4000 dollars for their bikes.
4 of mine have been stolen, law enforcement couldn't give a shit, not one has been recovered. 1 i actually saw being ridden a few months later, i knew it was mine because i had made specific changes to it (saddle/seatpost/handlebars/stem/pedals all from different manufacturers) tried chasing after the guy be he clocked me and sped off, it was a nippy little bike that Kona Cinder Cone. I no longer cycle in to the city centre to much theft and vandalism if they can't steal it.
to be fair to the LEOs it is not like they can just walk up to someone that has a bike that looks like yours and say "hey you stole that bike". That is why cars have VINs and why they make the VIN visible on a parked car. I understand the frustration and have had a bike stolen but I think a part of the apathy is due to the understanding that the cops don't have any particularly simple way to verify that it is in fact your bike and the person in possession of it is the person that stole it.
@@lavonnealexander6936 only stupids pay 4k for a bike
@@Blox117 lmao 😂
1:46 keep in mind that allot of folk who ride bikes aren't doing it for exercise or fun, allot of us ride a bike because that is what we can afford. losing it is more than a mere annoyance.
Yeah, he pretty much said that at 4:40
@@G0ZERIAN LOL!
@@G0ZERIAN He pretty much said everything possible at some point and lost the plot along the way.
@@SianaGearz unfortunately in the modern era, either you're short and sweet and pendants come out to argue with you, or you make something long enough to cover the details and people say it's too lengthy.
You can aim for a middle ground with supplimentary info but then you're back to square one because no one reads it but still wants to correct you.
@@Joesolo13 Well i can't say that i frequently succeed at that myself, but writing is a skill. One ineffective writing style which is too terse isn't better or worse than the other ineffective writing style which is too verbose, and if you aim for the middle, you just make something that's both too tedious and not informative enough, and it's even worse. Good writing flows logically from one point to the next, it has subtle flourishes, it teases and reveals, it's like a story, and all of the points make sense in context, and since they build a cohesive system and take you on a journey, they're easy to remember. Good writing is hard and is not a skill which is well conveyed in school, even though nominally it should be, so it's unfortunately rare. But i'm sure you'll remember or find vids or speeches which are long, information dense, entertaining, in spite of maybe not being explicitly humorous, and where you find after you watch it to your surprise that it was an hour long or maybe two but you still want more. You know the feeling? This is not one of those.
And i don't want to be too harsh, i understand that there are practical constraints and sometimes things just don't come out better, but i just call it how i see it.
Cop after hearing 529 pitch: it'll be great sir, we'll be able to prevent so much crime and really serve the community!
The chief: stoppin crimes not our top priority right now.
So...., all we have to do is make bike stealing a real crime with the same offence as stealing some other property? WOW...., who would of thought.
No, that wasn't the point of the video. No laws were changed regarding bike theft. Instead, they got people to care enough to register their bikes to make it easy for police to return the bikes to their owners and show that the bike was stolen.
"Would of thought"
!! How about writing it right: Would"ve thought.
20 minutes in and i still don't know what the solution is. Just that there is a town that has a solution.
26:41
The solution is a bike registry that police can use.
if manufacturers would use a real VIN on bicycles that would help a lot.
The police already find a lot of the bikes, but they can't prove a bike is stolen, or return a recovered bike unless they know it's stolen and who's it is.
I know! And in the beginning he says he doesn’t know why the idea hasn’t gone viral. 🤦🏻♂️
@@pfistor Maybe you should have made this video. Would save everyone a ton of time.
@@CarltonAbas The idea hasn't gone viral because he can't explain it.
ha ha ha ha ha ha
As an urban cyclist, I really appreciate this channel
I appreciate you watching! Thank you.
@@Shifter_Cycling Fellow victim here.
If a 800.00 honda is taken more serious than a 2000.00 bicycle. The only significant difference is that the state doesn't accrue revenue from licensing, registration & insurance. Are we willing to do so if possible? Yes! If we can receive a moving violation ticket that a automobile can receive, it shall be taken just as serious.
Sounds like you haven't watched the video.
Thanks for this. I'm already registered with two databases, and I'm pleased to report that my local police department has the form for one right on its own website. I hope we can get on top of this, because it's really reduced my enjoyment of bicycling. I got back into it five years ago after about 20 years away, expecting to do what I did in my twenties: abandon my car as soon as the weather improved and get virtually all of my transportation from the bike. Turns out the bike thieving is so high in my town you can't do that anymore; even locked to a regulation rack, the jerks still steal it.
So my new bike is just a toy now, since I can't ever leave it anywhere out of my sight. I still love the pleasure rides and am glad I have it, but it seriously diminishes both the amount of riding I can do and the role of the bike in my life.
This depredation is seriously biting into our ability to market biking as legitimate alternate transportation, and therefore to our chances of getting the legal and infrastructure improvements that we need to make this a viable thing. It becomes a self-defeating cycle - the first effect feeding into the second feeding into the first - that keeps us on the sidelines of the problem-solving for larger social challenges.
We need more bait bikes... and show their faces in videos online!
No that is not the answer,
Civilians always imagine that getting these people into the court system will solve the problem. For small change like bike theft, you're talking about a revolving door. Getting caught by authority is no deterrent.
@@RobMacKendrick I wasn't clear. I don't mean bait bikes waiting for police to arrest them. I'm talking about those guys here on RUclips who have been attaching 50 ft cables to bait bikes, with the seat or handlebars loosened, or even the frame made to come apart when the cable yanks to a stop.
They also put out a bait motorcycle with an airbag under the seat, and put out bait moving trucks. Bait purses with charges that blow something that looks like pudding in the would-be crooks face. Bait cell phones and laptops that have remote control electric shockers in them.
That is what I mean.
@@AlienRelics Ah ha. Well, aside from the known pitfalls of vigilance schemes - though the image is very satisfying, I admit - where I live most thieves don't ride their plunder; they toss it in a waiting pickup, then frequently part it out and sell the components. Also, though I've watched some of those RUclips videos too, I don't get the impression that falling for a bait prank stops criminals from doing what they do. They just swear (or laugh, in some of the videos) and keep scumbagging.
@@RobMacKendrick From your condescending, but correct me if I'm wrong, tone I started to wonder when you began with 'Civilians imagine..' : 'Civilians' as distinct from whom? You possibly?
Guess where the money goes when the police auction off recovered bikes.
where?
hookers and blow?
back into the crime community?
To fund bullies with gold stars and guns so they can continue locking up any victims of the rapist occult that dare to call revolt against such entities? As an MKUltra survivor, they've locked me up over a dozen times in the past 5 years, mind you, i've never ever hurt anyone, even when physically attacked, but i'm a major threat to society. They even took away my 2nd amendment rights over it.
Donuts
*"BICYCLISTS* _DON'T PAY_ *ROAD TAXES!!"*
[yeah, but then again, BICYCLES DON'T MAKE *potholes* !!]
Bicyclists pay 100% of the road taxes that the Legislature tells them to pay.
So it's the Legislature's decision, not the bicyclists'.
Most bicyclists also own cars, and property and pay taxes. Yes and bicycles don't destroy the roads.
For anyone that says "... bikes don't make potholes..." take a look at bike tracks in the woods or on Any unprepared/reinforced surface. Bikes need prepared hard surfaces or they DO make potholes. So now, you need the funding to MAKE those paved surfaces... unless you want bikes riding in the road with cars...
Oh, you want to divert funding from what it was originally slated and voted for? Wonderful. If its acceptable for you to divert funds for YOUR project/policy, its acceptable to divert for Any policy.
@@f1y7rap did you see the post about how most cyclists pay taxes? Bicycles need a tiny fraction of infrastructure compared to something 6x wider, 3x longer, and 200x heavier. Nice rant though. Encore?
@@f1y7rap plus, as mountain biker, those "potholed" tracks you talk about seem like a lot of fun. Maybe consider the possibility that those tracks were never designed to be perfectly smooth and flat
I can’t tell you how much I wish everyone watched this video! I have been without a bike for 6 years because I’m afraid of it getting stolen. I love bikes, and watch biking videos that talk about biking infrastructure all the time, but the reason I drive a car isn’t because of infrastructure problems as much is it for fear of my bike being stolen.
It's amazing what can be done when police ACTUALLY decide to do their jobs.
This is super interesting. As a Local Government Landscape Architect in Australia I’m building cycling infrastructure, but that’s only one thing that encourages cycling. Excellent video!
Keep building that infrastructure! That's the most important piece. Thank you for your work on this!
Hi, where in Australia? I'm in SA and interested too. Cheers
recently my city began some infrastructure changes to make it more cycling friendly. I read some transcripts from the meetings leading up to that and they had a lot of input from cycling advocacy groups. the frustrating part is they didn't actually LISTEN to the cycling advocacy groups. I don't think that fight theft was really part of that discussion it was more about Rider and pedestrian safety, along with snow removal concerns. what kills me is that they're cited reasoning for not taking the advice and instead going with the "second best" option was snow removal. the advice was to use a separated bike lane which would have parked cars as part of the barrier between the street and the cycling Lane which would be between the curb and the sidewalk. when it snows they have a machine that clears the sidewalks and they typically use Earth moving equipment to clear the streets. but usually what happens is that they concentrate on the streets and then the sidewalks become impassable because of people walking on them before they're cleared and their footsteps would freeze into place making it impossible to ride on or walk on so to me it was a pointless decision. they could have done the bike Lanes as suggested and they would have been safer for the other three seasons while still remaining largely unused in the winter anyway. even if they're able to clear the sidewalks in time with the machine it still does a pretty terrible job, although largely I think that depends on the driver more than it depends on the machine because sometimes it's great. I don't guess that you have that to worry about in Australia, I guess my point is just to remember to think things all the way through when you're making these decisions. I think part of the poor decision, was a lack of understanding exactly what they were talking about. I think probably that when they were thinking about a separated bike lane most of the people making this decision we're thinking that they separated bike lane would be the same level as the street not the same level as the sidewalk which yes then it would be much harder to clean of snow because now you have this raised curb between the parked cars and the sidewalk. so I can see why they would think that would be more difficult to clean. in the end they set up so that the bike lane is be between the street parking and the street itself, and as might be expected people being people they use the bike lane to get around stopped traffic or to double park, so it's almost worse than not having a bike lane at all because without a bike lane you're constantly paying attention to what your automobile traffic around you is doing, but when you're riding in a bike lane you're not really paying as much attention because you're supposed to be protected space, drivers aren't paying as much attention because they're expecting you to stay in your lane. but if somebody is double parked in the bike lane that means now I have to go out into traffic to get around them.
None of it was interesting unless you're an LNP supporter, so you build infrastructure?? Or you do some drawings that most likely do people/cycle calming and not motor calming which at the same time often block access for the disabled that other people actually build?? Jesus even Australians now use language that's self-aggrandizing without thought and call a video about theft that doesn't address the core issue of inequality 'excellent' the class divide just keeps growing but hey I'm a bogan what the fuck do I know hey matey ya wouldn't piss on me if I was on fire. Landscape Architect does that mean an urban planner that likes to garden or is the title even more meaningless as I fear and you just get paid far too much and the people that do the work continue to slide down economically? It's okay I know you vote green and are in the local resilience group you're doing great, the people stealing the bikes not so much but hey hang'em, such is life brother..
@@Shifter_Cycling Fellow victim here.
If a 800.00 honda is taken more serious than a 2000.00 bicycle. The only significant difference is that the state doesn't accrue revenue from licensing, registration & insurance. Are we willing to do so if possible? Yes! If we can receive a moving violation ticket that a automobile can receive, it shall be taken just as serious.
This would be so very simple to solve. Take a few tempting bikes out of the impound instead of auctioning them off. Place them in areas where bike theft is a problem. Set up hidden web cams to record when they are stolen. Identify and arrest the perpetrators. I can guarantee that within a month, you will no longer have a problem. But that would mean putting resources behind the effort and giving up all that sweet, sweet auction money from all the stolen bikes that you haven't bothered to return to their rightful owners.
What happens if the majority of offenders are the wrong skin colour? You'd have cries of wacist and black-block commies buring down buildings.
Everyone knows the real reason behind the rise of crime in general
@@mattizie91 "Everyone knows the real reason behind the rise of crime in general"
Really? And what would that be? I'm not trying to be deliberately ignorant. If we all know the reason for crime, it seems to me that we should be doing something about it.
Thieves watch their marks. They've been doing this with cars for years, but when
@@mattizie91 new reality show bait bike.
I mean... The police have limited resources. You want them all in on chasing people who stole bikes that they planted... I'd rather they work on violent crime or something. Maybe ACTUAL theft. It's not like they're just going to get all theives in jail and be done. You want them to do that forever?
I have had my bike stolen like 3 times in my life. I wish it was treated as a serious crime. My bikes were like $500 to $600. I can't imagine having a bike that is thousands of dollars. I am now getting a bike for the first time in like 5 years.
Hey man just wanted to say I love your content and this video as well, it's a departure from your shorter videos but well put together and a well told story sincerely hope the people being annoying don't deter you from making more, you are appreciated!
Skip to 18:15 to finally learn this fantastic idea: bike registration with community involvement. Lots of bikes are auctioned off at police auctions even though their serial numbers are reported stolen. Start with banning police profitting from assets seisure, recovered property, traffic tickets, and anything else that creates a conflict of interest. As for criminals, don't just catch and release or house in private prisons but research how other countries set real consequences.
that's what major cycling associations did in France and now it's mandatory for new bikes, it's still mostly used to get bikes back to their owner when found and does'nt prevent theft that much (at least for now) but it still is really usefull. (the database is bicycode if youa want to learn more about it)
The us doesn’t care about bikes unfortunately because most people drive cars
When I was younger my bike was recovered 10 years after it was stolen. It was taken during a bust of a drug dealer 50 miles away. It was never registered, but I gave the serial number of the bike (yes this one had an actual serial number) when I reported the theft to the police department. I never expected to ever see the bike again.
Had my bike recently stolen in Calgary. Reported it, and thought that was it. Three weeks later, Got a call from the police that my bike was recovered. I was shocked. Went in to get it, and it was in great shape. Except they replaced the handle bars, my peddles, and the front tire. Apparently it was found abandon, downtown. I thought, that’s odd, they went through a lot of trouble to change out some good working parts for cheaper, only to have abandon it. Although I don’t have any answers to that odd question. I was impressed that through this experience, not only did I learn that the Calgary police have a registry, and are working with the bike shops to register all new bikes. But that our police force, actively reaches out to owners when they successfully recover any bikes. Perhaps this video made the difference. Just thought I would share that.
Used to put three U locks on my bike, one through the back wheel, one through the front wheel to the frame and one attaching the frame to an unmovable object. Never had a bike stolen and I lived in Amsterdam! What I did, wouldn’t make my bike unstealable, just make it a harder target when there are softer targets out there. Junkies steal bikes to fund their habits in Amsterdam.
Is that really true, or is that what you think?
Same here never had bike stolen. I use Ebike too which is more attractive to thieves. My tip use 2 locks or more and if not locked to immovable object atleast lock bike to itself.
@@tesmith47 no, that’s really true. People selling bikes are obviously junkies. There’s even a place that people know, where they go to buy bikes from junkies. You just walk up the street until a junkie rides by and asks you, do you wanna buy a bike. The transaction takes place. The bikes are really cheap. There’s a roaring trade in stolen bikes.
@@tesmith47 what are you stupid? junkies and bikes go together so much that people will assume you are a junkie if you are even on a bike in the US.
Rarely do I have to watch a video at 2x speed so the person can actually get to any sort of point
Rambling on to get your 10 minute ad revenue is making posters into politicians.
I was expecting this to be a crowdfund for a GPS tracker.
Perhaps his presentation is why no cities are buying in.
He actually never does get to point.
The trick with videos like this is read the comments first or skip to the end... 28min of this was just waste of time end his conlution was get police more involved and register the bikes... (it does not work and has been tried many times, crooks will steal bikes if not locked well no matter registered or not).
In the good old days, horse thieves were hanged.
I am usually quite peaceful, but I really hope that I never meet the person who stole my last bike.
My next door neighbour stole my bike. I know it was him. He was a druggie and took it from our shared hallway as we had flats on the same floor and we were the only ones with keys. He came with a friend of his later that week to see if I was home, I reckon if I hadn't been in he'd have broken in. I learned later after he moved out the police were after him, they came round to see if I knew where he was. Apparently he owed money to the wrong people. 🙄 A nice lady moved in after that but I never did afford a new bike when I lived there.
I feel the same as you after having my Specialized Langster Moscow stolen a few days ago. I better not ever see it again.
people steal from me constantly, phone, skateboard, car battery, a few cents. if any one of them confesses to me i will kill them on sight
Just hope you see it before the pandemic is over... It's hard to "Positively Identify" someone wearing a mask.
You Sr have the real solution. Thieves should have at least their hands cut off.
Wow ... Vancouver police recovering bikes. Cool!
When someone had dumped a bike in my yard and I alerted the police in Cairns, Australia, they told me that they wouldn't bother if it wasn't an "expensive" bike.
The sad truth is that most expensive bikes are rarely the only means of transport for the owner whereas cheap bicycles often are.
I used to live near the University of Florida. I lived one block off the main street. Every afternoon, two kids would ride by on bikes, while rolling another one alongside. We told the cops about it several times. They were too busy asking students to empty their pockets to see if they could arrest someone for a joint.
Will definitely get my bike registered! I genuinely had no idea bike registration was actually a thing. This channel is just great. Thanks so much for all the quality stuff.
Thank you for watching!
Yup 👍 makes it easier for , the police to find it.
Something that is in the past in Germany. Almost all people got their bikes registered (registered by police). And it all lead to nothing. It had no effect, so noone does it any more. It is an illusion that registration will solve bik theft.
@@fotomaxk6299 I registered my bike with the local police; but I agree, it's an illusion that having registered my bike, I will get it back if it's stolen.
As nice as registering you bike is it is zero security you will get you bike back cops make money selling your bike. That is why bike auctions.
"This is the point in the story where everybody usually says something like: "Well? Tell me the secret!""
- I am way ahead of everybody, then ... around 20 minutes ahead! - Jeeez!
Uh, public hangings of thieves?
All these people saying the TLDR is “a community wide effort” DID NOT WATCH THE VIDEO. The real solution was a database and a badge to ward off thieves. You can voluntarily register your bike into a public database that the police share with other cities, and it has pictures so other people can see what your bike looks like if you report it stolen. That made bike recovery rates better, BUT most importantly you can buy a badge (sticker) to put on your bike that says it’s been registered, and that made theft rates drop way down, because thieves didn’t want to get caught with a registered bike.
Thank you for this video! One of the most useful and informative videos on cycling safety that I've seen. I really appreciate your channel. I love the mix of solid information and subtle humor.
I used to commute on a bicycle all the time, before I started driving, and to keep my bike from getting stolen I had a fake booby-trap that made people think it was rigged to explode or light on fire if it was stolen.
Now I have a GPS transponder hidden on my bike where it can't be removed, a sticker warning that it'll cause a police response, and I stuck the bare minimum(barrel, firing pin, and trigger assembly) in a little box on the frame. When my bike got stolen from right outside my house, all I had to do was report those gun parts stolen, and the police were all over it.
Did you mention the drugs and thermite stashed in the handlebars?
Smar idea.
smart move
That's all fine and good, but where did you put the human organs and crystal meth?
This is a historic day when an actual Canadian said, "Americans are smart."
Yeah, but I knew if a Canadian was starting a story with "Americans are smart" it wasn't going to end with Americans being smart.
Just sad their positive assumption is so quickly proven wrong.
IDK, you'd think Quebecois first line of thinking should be "French are smart, let's ask them". I don't know what France has got, but the neighbouring Germany has ADFC's bike registration system which will of course trivially be recognised by authorities across EU and helps recover stolen bicycles.
It was a cop talking. Nothing smart/honest about anything a cop says.
There’s two things I learned with my bike: rust is the cheapest form of weight reduction and it’s the final bike lock, nobody wants to steal it.
I have had a few bikes stolen over the years. I always buy used bicycles from garage sales because I don't want to invest in a nice bicycle just to have it stolen. It's in everyone's best interest to solve this. The bicycle shops, the cops, the local shops, and the city itself. For every person on a bicycle, there is less congestion on the road and cleaner air, not to mention healthier people and healthier kids.
I've had multiple bikes stolen from me and yeah a lot of people do assume that it's a victimless crime. Thing is, a bike isn't just a mode of transport for me, it's accessibility. I should be using a cane but a bike has given me a lot of mobility for distances most people would just walk, and I've only been able to replace bikes by selling things I shouldn't be selling and by begging bike shops to sell to me at close to cost in exchange for forgoing the service period they usually come with.
Yeah I don't have a car right now. If my bike gets stolen that's like... that's how I get to work. That's how I get to the store. There are no busses in my town. My bike is older and not very flashy, and I have a good bike lock, but I still worry.
My experience in Germany: I have seen 3 bicycle theft attempts, 2 of them were successful, one led to 2 unusable bicycle locks. I reported them all to the police and got my bike back in one of the two successful thefts
Awesome video! Up in Edmonton I've only seen a similar service called Bike Index with bike shops carrying stickers with qr codes for anyone to take. What's the difference between this and project 529? Is 529 larger, or are they connected so if a bike is in one database it's also in the other? Should I register for both? Thank you
I am 70. When I encourage other seniors to consider bicycling for health, the most common objection I hear is a history of bicycle theft. Some own bicycles they ride very rarely for recreation; these bikes spend most of their time hidden in garages; the owners regard riding a bike to the store an almost sure-fire way to have the bike stolen.
In my town, bikes have been stolen out of peoples' locked garages. And increasingly, seniors here are buying e-bikes, which are worth alot. I don't think there's a good enough lock to keep a thief from stealing a valuable bike that's so easily resold.
That is my concern as well. I would have purchased an ebike and used it a lot for shopping, errands etc, but I just have no way of protecting it.
They stole one from my 2nd floor apartment railing.
I would use my bike a lot more if there were better places to secure it. I am usually on my own so don’t leave it unattended.
this seems like a really long winded way of saying " make local law enforcement do their job "
Their job is to protect the ruling class. "Police brutality" is literally business as usual. Abolish police.
We've seen a huge growth in the sales of expensive e-bikes and e-cargo bikes here in Oslo, that cost as much as an average used car, and once these start getting stolen in big numbers it will hopefully put pressure on politicians to do more to about bike theft.
I hope it doesn't take the theft of many expensive bikes to get police interested, but I suspect you might be right. I already hear from many people reluctant to take their nice expensive bikes out into the city because of a fear of theft, which breaks my heart.
Amen. I cannot afford the operating costs of a more conventional vehicle, and mine was stolen March of this year. Had well over 2500 in it.
Replacement will crack 3k. Probably won’t be replaced until the fall of 2022.
Basically it takes having some measures in place to make it possible to get the bikes insured. If you have insurance agencies hounding various authorities about the recovery day after day (as it's part of their job and not something taking up their own time), then stuff gets done. (If not, then the insurance company would eat the cost of replacement and they typically don't want to do that.) It sucks that it may be necessary, but that type of middleman is what is needed to help resolve the issue.
I bought my bike from a Trek dealer in Everett, WA and it was automatically registered with Bike Index. Then I found out about Project529 and I registered it there as well. There's no way I'm buying a used bike without checking these two services. Thank you!
When I started watching your videos, I thought that the things that you taught us were things that people should do. It took me a while to realize that I in fact didn't care that much about bike theft and I also stopped buying bicycles after getting them stolen and not having space to store them.
I'm amazed at how much thought went into it, without me realizing it.
To anyone in the UK, BikeRegister is pretty much the UK equivelent. Recognised by all UK police forces. You can register your frame number for free or buy a permanent marking kit with a unique number.
Yes, this is a great point. But for a program like this to work, the database is the only the first step. The UK has a leg up because there is already a shared database. The next step is the hard part -- getting the community on board too.
@@Shifter_Cycling Totally agreed. Thats why I'll nag anyone who'll listen to check it out :-)
Yep have my bike resigistered with this! So much extra peace of mind. My bike is my primary form of transport so keeping it mine is important.
@@aloysiusflartey6122 tad bit rude aren't ya? I just meant I worry about someone stealing it while I nip into the shops in town. Also putting your bike in your house isn't always the most suitable thing for everyone. Sometimes you have no choice really.
@@brittanyouldcott2912 folding bike?
Bike theft is a problem. So is time theft. This video should have been three minutes long.
He was creating a story in three acts. Everyone is a screen writer these days. Screen writers anonymous ought to catch on.
it's 10 mins on x3
😂😂
27 mins of hot air
We all know bikes get stolen more then anything ever
We needed 27 mins to say it?
Because that's all wasnt even a damn solution
Call it a solution in a small town
In a city that's just a comedy
Definetly, (using a throw away here) When you said it fuels cynicism i totally agree, when I was 11-12 I has my bike stolen when exploring the town (somewhere in denmark) and it caused me to go down a dark path in which stealing and getting your bike stolen was a common occurance and if i got my bike taken then I'd have to take another, and as a young influencable kid this isn't the mindset I should've been taught, though its never affected me I havent stolen a bike in years but still ride bikes that are stolen and havent bought a bike ever since mine was stolen all those years ago
I am brazilian, and over here we have many guidelines we follow to prevent bike theft:
1- get the cheapest looking bike you can find, and pull the paint off with a knife to make it look older if it doesnt already come with painting holes
2- always stop your bike close to a better looking bike. Ideally, get a rich friend to always ride along with you and chain his bike close to yours
3-obviously don't have mirrors, baskets, horns or anything that can be removed from the bike
4-In general, try not to have a bike.
Yeah, that's the definition of a complete failure to stop bike crime. That is giving up on owning property.
@@s13rr4buf3 No, its accepting that a bike might be a luxury, one that you don't need and cant afford to do without so dont get.. You can still own a car etc Lets put it this way, you just spent 20 grand on a bike, and its the lightest on the market. 10 grams less than the next, and 2kg less than the 1k bike. Whats the first thing you have to do? Go out and buy the biggest heaviest chain and lock you can afford to keep it safe. So why not just buy the cheaper bike that weighs 2kg more and not worry if its stolen?
A bike alarm and a GPS wouldn't hurt either.
Pretty much
Never go to Brazil to cycle! 🙄
Here in Japan (where believe it or not bicycles has always been huge. In my city nearly 30% of all trips). Bike registration is mandatory at every shop when you buy a bike. Costs 5 bucks to register and slap a sticker with a unique number on the frame and thanks to that the recovery rate for stolen bikes is much higher.
Oh and I have to mention the database is shared nationally and run by the police.
Yes, I was waiting to see if Japan was mentioned. This video made it seem like bicycle databases are some a new solution but a bicycle register has been around in Japan since the mid 90s at least.
Cant the criminals just take the sticker off? What’s the point in the sticker why don’t they just use a database of the serial numbers?
lol it's also mandatory here in Hawai'i too. Hasn't prevented thefts. How many homeless chop shops have I visited and seen bike frames with those registration stickers still on them? Yeah, bike registration is useless because only the frame is registered - thieves will strip the bike for its parts and use/sell those parts and not the frame itself.
@@larrylmedina It has prevented thefts. My friend in the Japanese city I live in had the police find her bike a few months after it was stolen. Of course the sticker can still be removed but the frame number is registered as well.
So if there is a suspicious bike the police check the frame number and see if it matches with the rider. If it doesnt they contact the person its registered to.
Knowing Hawai I imagine the police dont proactively check suspicious looking bicycles or stop shady looking riders, so I guess in that case it wouldnt have much of a purpose.
I have both my bikes registered on Garage 529! Glad to see the Ottawa Police Service embracing the program
I'm hoping your video efforts are still prevailing Tom. I will be registering my bikes with the program. I too am constantly thinking of my security as to my expensive bikes. Thank you and keep up your efforts.
When I was a broke college student I scrounged $200 together to replace an ancient walmart special when it finally broke. Loved my new bike. For the whopping month I had it before it was stolen. Reported it, not that it did any good. Campus police could not have cared less. It was even in the view of one of the dorm cameras.
That basically killed me riding bikes. 14 years later and 70 lbs heavier I'm looking at getting into it again. But the idea of dropping several hundred dollars on an ebike for grocery store runs and exercise just so it can get stolen is a huuuuuuge deterrent from me even bothering.
We have a similar system across France, it's called Bicycode (see: www.bicycode.org/, there's a brochure in English if you're interested). The initiative is backed by the government, and insurances require your bike to be marked. It's also obligatory for all shops to mark bikes since 2021, and it will become obligatory for people to mark used bikes before selling them as well in July.
Do you have any links with more info about the last bits "It's also obligatory for all shops to mark bikes since 2021, and it will become obligatory for people to mark used bikes before selling them as well in July." ?
@@erotsstore Here more informations, on governement's website (in french obiously): www.service-public.fr/particuliers/actualites/A14495
I'm curious to see if it will change some bike theft statistics.
@@GabrielJourdane Thanks! Hopefully this will help lower the number of bicycle thefts. We have big problem with bicycle theft here in Sweden.
@@erotsstore the only downside its gonna be a sticker and all you have to do is peel it off with some goo gone my city has done this for 18 years and every bike i have ever registered got stolen and never got one of them back
In the US bikeindex.org already exists and works for free
My oldest son gifted his younger brother with a nice mountain bike that was later stolen. We reported the theft, but paperwork was missing, so no way to provide identification other than description. I purchased him a new bike, which was soon stolen out of our fenced yard. Armed with the paperwork this time, we reported the theft at our city police station. Sitting in the car outside the police station afterwards as we were getting ready to drive off, we received a call, and were told they had my sons bike in their lost property hold. Turned out that it was found abandoned by our neighbor in their yard. The police officer told us that he had found a 10K bicycle that he spent weeks trying to track down the owner to no avail. Said it was difficult to see it sell at auction for a couple of hundred bucks. He also said how important it was for people to report the thefts as it helps to increase funding and personnel for the problem. For government, if crimes are not reported, they don't exist.
Sounds like you have a good police department.
Very good article (Video) I'm not a cyclist but I know bicycles are regularly stolen and to understand the problem of finding a solution I went trough the entire video and pleased with the content. I now know that much more. Well done and thanks.
I'm glad you mentioned Project 529. I list with them. My bikeshop let me know about them when I bought it and I was super thankful.
Shared on the Facebook group "STOLEN Bikes Ottawa" in the hope that members will pass it around. (529 Garage is already promoted both by the Ottawa Police Service and local cycling groups.)
Out in Edmonton we use bikeindex.org/
Thank you!
in 1961 I was in 5th grade. The local police came to my elementary school and I registered the new bike I had just gotten for my birthday. They placed a brightly colored license with a reflective background on the center tube where it was very visible. The following day, I got out of school and found someone had cut the heavy chain I used to lock my bicycle and stolen my bike out of the school bicycle racks...license made no difference, I never saw my bike again. Moral I learned: If you have something you like in public, do not take your eyes off it or it WILL BE stolen, trashed or defaced by someone. And MOST IMPORTANT you don't have to live in a large city...you can be anywhere.
I live in Chicago IL. I ride a bicycle virtually everywhere I go. I leave it locked up "in public" every day. For me to avoid doing so would mean not riding my bike. In 25 years of riding, I've never had a bike stolen.
I'm sorry you lost your childhood bicycle, but your advice is reactionary and completely impractical for people who use bicycles to commute.
"it WILL BE stolen"
.... No
I had my nice bike stolen from in front of my high school. I bought a car to replace it and stopped riding my bike for over 10 years because I never bothered to replace it.
Gotta say though, I really challenge the idea that winning over the hearts of cops is unrealistic. We keep us safe. We need community programs that do this, not more cop funding
This video is super important. You have provided super valuable perspective on why community efforts are absolutely priceless in results yet cost effective in time and money when everyone is involved.
Calling her riding her own bike away "vigilantism" is astounding... It's her property, that wasn't a vigilantly action and had she not it likely would have never been recovered.
Ikr!
I bet if you stopped more bike thefts, you’d prevent more car thefts.
get a tracking device like lo jack .
Just stumbled upon this great video; thanks for this nuanced and honest take on bike theft and especially for talking about the deep psychological effects it has on a community. I just experienced this myself, I spent a weekend in Copenhagen, and apart from all the other things that make it a bike-friendly city, what stood out to me was how SAFE it felt to leave your bike standing outside for a minute while only locking the back wheel through a frame lock. I've also spent time in other really bike-friendly cities like Amsterdam and live in reasonably bike-friendly Vienna, but in those places you're always on the lookout for the next traffic sign or bike stand to lean your bike against, fighting bike pile-ups, fumbling around with chain locks and d-locks and whatnot while kneeling next to dirty bike wheels. I was amazed how much more CONVENIENT and freeing it was in contrast to plop your bike down while not in the back of your head being afraid it might get stolen: get off, bike stand, frame lock, done, the whole movement is completed in 15 seconds and you're good to go. Apart from the convenience though, the biggest surprise was how AWESOME it felt being in a community where people are nice enough that it is possible to do this (a feeling I've otherwise only experienced in Japan): Make a quick stop at a store, hop down to the beach, quickly put your bike to the side to assist a person in need. Taken further, it really makes you think about what's possible IN GENERAL when you live in a society where people are actually decent to one other. But here's the thing: human beings are basically the same everywhere. Danes and Japanese are also not angels; Copenhagen and Japan still have bike theft. But when the system through clever policy and awareness discourages harmful behavior and incentivizes people to do the better thing, the communities we live in become better for ALL of us - and on a bigger scale, make up a societies in which AMAZING things become possible!
People are not the same intellectually and morally everywhere, when some places are suffering from massive drug addiction issues and other places or not.
@17:10 He said "the Americans are smart," and I burst out laughing, I'm American.
We're ashamed of you too.
yeah, not like we made the atom bomb, the model T, the first airplane, alternating current, the internet, lightbulbs, direct current, etc...
@@KvltKommando 👍Way to represent "smart Americans" by talking about a bunch of things that are completely unrelated to the topic of bike theft. You really showed them! The point is that the methods, to get stolen bikes that have been recovered back into the right hands, are not adequate. I discovered this personally when a family member's bike was stolen from inside of their house and later was recovered by the local police department in a drug bust. The local police department ended up selling it at auction despite it having been reported stolen and registered with a serial # by the bike shop with the police department. My family member ended up finding out about it because they saw someone riding it down the street and stopped them to ask about it. Very pathetic work by the police if you ask me.
What do you think we can do to get programs like this into more cities?
Remove the profit motive for NOT doing anything to reduce bicycle theft. Bikes recovered, but NOT returned, get sold at auction ... which means, every bike that IS returned, _is money the police department / local government doesn't get_ ...!!
More info in the community. Bike shops, riders, bike advocacy organizations. If the police service doesn't take this up, the community can. But awareness is needed.
Registering your bike does NOT work. Here in Germany Police used to offer it and a lot of people got bikes registered.
Even an extra serial number got engraved into the frame to register it, surrounded by a warning sticker "registered". This was proven ineffective, since it had no affect on bike theft, registeted bikes were rarely found as well.
So people stopped registering them, since it was basically useless. And therefore at some point police stopped offering it.
There is no miracle solution for bike theft.
Putting bike racks in visible places is a joke as well, they disappear there quite as fast as at other places.
Moreften you will be missing parts from your bike than the whole thing.
If police personnel resources are not available, I'm willing to bet that a volunteer program offered to the local community would provide at least one person who would be willing to provide the assistance to staff the operation. But it would require the police to allow citizens access to police resources to manage the recovery and return of stolen bikes to their owners. A partnership between the police and the community can solve this problem.
@@VeganHorseman I'll be more than happy to help, and I'm sure a lot of people would.
I think RFID tagging a bike with your info, similar to what you do with chipping a pet would be a wonderful solution for identifying a bike without the database as all the data needed is stored on the tag. The law, bike shops, pawn shops etc would just need simple scanners. Inexpensive, effective, and very easy to educate people on as it’s a known concept.
Arrg.
How to you make sure the data is actually of the right person?
What when you sell that bike?
What do you do if the RFID breaks?
How "inexpensive" do you think a few million scanners are compared to a website?
What about people who don't want to give their valuable data away for free? Just imagine all those data sniffers running around with their scanners: Yeah, one dollar more! And another! And one more!
And that is just what I thought of in about 3 seconds.
This would also allow anyone to read the tag and grab your personal data. Chipping something is just another form of plastering a piece of paper with clear text. Electronic tools to read (and write) these chips is neither hard to get, nor expensive.
@moral hazard QR codes are good, but can be easily filed down, scratched off or painted over etc.
Perhaps they can be laser engraved in a difficult to access place to make that difficult.
Chips also good idea, but need to be internal and tamperproof, and the frame is conductive making it impossible to read.
Likewise GPS units need to be exposed to be able to receive/transmit signals and can be defeated. These are hard problems.
@@nrdesign1991 QR tags or chips contain a code that is meaningless to anyone without the remote database that goes with it, so nobody is going to get your personal data so easily even if they can read them.
@@ahaveland The original comment proposed a solution without a database.
I almost never comment, but after seeing this one (twice) I decided to register my newest bike (a Detroit Bike A-Type) in the 529 database. I think this is a wonderful idea and is a good start to eliminate this type of crime. BTW, Detroit bikes was started by a former Calgary native who moved to Detroit. Love my Detroit Bike and it is a great 3 speed commuter which I have added to my Fuji Absolute 1.7 flat bar road bike.
This has happened to my babies more times than I can count. Stolen right out of our back yard. Not only did it hurt them, but it pained me deeply. And I couldn't afford to replace them, and even if/when I did... stolen again. It's so INFURIATING!!! Police said it's the number one stolen thing in our neighborhood. We can't have anything here, and people who steal from others are just scum! Makes me sick!
Great video!
Here are my thoughts on this subject.
The perceived risk of bike theft is detrimental to the willingness to invest in a bike you want to use. When you buy a car, you may spec it with added niceties such as leather upholstery, upgraded sound system and so forth. It should be same when buying a bike, but the fear of theft poses a barrier to the personal willingness to invest. If you are happy with your bike, you will want to use it more often than if you settle for a lesser bike than you otherwise would have. Bike theft or the perceived threat thereof, along with the way in which our cities are planned and the priority cars are given at the expense of bikes, are the two main obstacles to mass bike adoption.
When you buy a bike, it's a personal investment. When your bike it's stolen, it's a personal fiscal hit. But when you choose to bike instead of using a car, everybody including other car drivers are benefiting (less traffic).
With the rise of e-bikes, this is even more pressing, gives their higher prices and wider use potensial. Let's say you want a bike with a Rohloff e14, belt drive etc. Then you are looking to spend as much as a low-tier new car. It's not an amount of money most people can afford to lose.
If cities and governments really want to see growth in bike use and we are to meet our climate goals, they should address this issue now rather than later.
There has been a fairly large-scale bike register running in the UK for at least a decade.
It makes almost sod all difference. Detection of bike theft is still such a long way down police priorities, bike thieves are rarely prosecuted, the prosecutions don’t result in proper sentences, and bike theft continues to increase year on year.
And now the thieves have cordless angle grinders, so even those Sold Secure Gold locks are of limited use.
Exactly right. The bike register is a way of connecting an owner with their bike if it is found by someone... which is utterly pointless if the police don't bother investigating the crime in the first place. British police hide behind Bike Register to make it look like they are doing something. You can do two things: always use a strong lock and hide an AirTag on your bike.
I've just watched your video, because I've just started researching the topic of bike security and preventing bike theft. I'm a biker as well. Apparently there is a similar bike program in Hungary that is called BikeSafe since 2014. If I hadn't watched your video, I think I wouldn't have searched for this program. By the way, it's a great video. Big thanks!
Hey this video introduced me to your channel. Great work and now I’ve binged a bunch of your videos! Thanks fellow Canadian!
I wish this would gain more attention. I'm an avid cyclist but I rarely take my bike for short trips due to the high bike theft situation in my city. It's so bad you see bike thieves going around with their battery powered grinder sticking out of their backpacks which will cut any lock in seconds.
Problem is that your bike isn't much safer at home. Garage, shed and home burglaries for bikes are also a huge problem right now. Apparently today, thieves will look through neighborhoods with cars with bike racks on them and target those homes & garages for lucrative bikes. Yes, that cool Kuat rack may bring thieves right to your door! (Which is EXACTLY what's sitting in my driveway, so I'm one of 'em!)
Knowing angle grinders are the mode of attack, secure your locked bike storage location with this in mind. Nothing's "unbreakable," but you can make it harder. Thieves are stupid, lazy idiots, so if your bike isn't "low-hanging fruit," they'll look for easier pickings. (Wow, I actually FINISHED a metaphor!)
Probably the best solution is a Ring device (or similar) in your garage or storage room that alerts you to motion. That way when there's motion in your garage at 3am, you know it's time to load the shotgun and thwart some scumbags! (I'm in the US where guns are standard - or at least that's what all the gun nuts wish!)
Good to hear. Unfortunately, it brings back memories of when Philadelphia police couldn't be bothered when my car was stolen. Also, I've had two or three bikes stolen.
In the city of Brotherly Love...
Even if your bike isn't stolen, there is also a huge problem with bike lights and accessories being stolen off of bikes. I usually pull mine off when I go into a building but, every time it has slipped my mind, I no longer had a bike light when I went back outside.
I laughed at the point where you finished reading Kijiji’s CYA corporate response and continued with “... and cities don’t care either”. Excellent writing.
I had 4 expensive bikes stolen from my house.
2 of them were found, the other 2 were missing for over a year, I was sure i wont see them again. I started working as a mechanic in a local shop. one month after starting to work there, one morning just as i opened the shop and poured me some coffee, a shady looking guy dropped off two bikes and asked me to refurbish them as he wants to sell them. had not drunk my coffee yet i just agreed and took them, 10 seconds after he left i looked at them AND HOLLY SH*T! They were my bikes!
You can't leave us hanging in suspense! What happened next?
On a personal level, one of the ways I prevent bike theft is that if I need to enter a business while on my bike I insist on bringing it in with me. If I get a 'no', I follow up with details about the cost and vulnerability, specify that I will be really quick, make it clear I will go elsewhere if I can't bring it in and plead a little if necessary. If still no, I ask for the manager and repeat. If still no, I go elsewhere. I can't remember the last time I was refused entry with my bike.
Some questions...
Is this registry mostly for Canada? Would it be useful to register if living in TX? Are there other registries I should also look into?
Any thoughts on GPS anti-theft trackers?
It is used by bike owners, bike shops, and police departments across the us as well. If you register your bike there, it will also give you the option to add your bike to other registries that it connects, like possibly your local police department or a bike shop in town with you. I didn't do an exhaustive list of places that it offers to add bikes to the registries of, but it does include police departments and bike shops throughout California and Oregon.
Thanks so much for this!! I was living on a bike through my teens, had a road bike and off road, as a Marine, for training, and have missed having one for two decades, because of this problem. I've built a "new" bike this year, out of parts bought off ebay, pretty sure not stolen, (been a bike and other mechanic all my life, dedicated to no stolen parts, hurts too much to lose my bike), best I've ever owned, probably obsolete to most, I'm old, and this registration means a lot to me. I love bikes, have long used them for fitness, at sixty three, I don't run anymore, I've got knees, and they've got me. I would like so much to live on one again, but I can lock my old mercedes 240D, and no one wants to steal it. To me, a bike is very personal, and theft is therefore more personal, like taking my wallet, gun point, used to live in Chicago, and carry a knife and gun everywhere I go. I hate that part too, I don't ever want to take a life, but I can't walk by and ignore evil. Thank you for putting this together, and making it very public.
In "Anybody's Bike Book" Tom Cuthbertson opined all bikes weigh 50 lbs. A ten pound bike needs a 40 lb lock; a 20 lb bike needs a 30 lb lock. A 50 lb bike needs no lock at all.
Then what? Lug around a 30 lbs lock as you ride around town. No thx
Well, when I went to CSUS, I rode a former 10 speed reduced to one with the goofiest handle bars I ever saw and no one stole it. However, later I loaned it to someone, who rode it to a tavern. Someone stole the bike. They must have had their beer googles on. At least, their drunken derriere was planted on a bicycle seat instead of the bucket seat of my stolen car.
@@newyardleysinclair9960 Yeah, that there was the joke Sinclair, well done.
My 15lb bike needs no lock at all because no F'ing way does it leave my sight in public! Things can get a little cozy in bathroom stalls.
@@csn583 True that. My bike comes to watch me pee.
In the Netherlands people have a 'city bike' and their proper bike. One is so old, rusty and spray-painted that no one even wants it, (on purpose) the other stands in the garage with a big lock.
Just imagine what it would be like to live in the country where you never worry about locking your house much less you bike. No global warming here, either. Just nice fresh air and nice people raised to know that stealing is wrong.
But that last part, isn't that racist ?
@@robertcarmosino6563 glad you said that!...........unfortunately stealing has proven to be highly lucrative. The biggest thieves in history now own north america,Australia, new Zealand
This is all great, but bike theft does not occur in a vacuum. Many street level thieves are poor, homeless, addicted and are stealing bikes or parts as a survival strategy.
In addition to trying to educate cyclists how to protect their bikes, to register them so that they can be returned to their rightful owners if recovered and police going after organized thieves, attention must be placed on the root causes why people are resorting to stealing bikes.
This is a great point. One thing that jumped out at me from speaking with Det Brunt from Vancouver is that this program has succeeded without "cracking down." More people aren't going to jail as a result of this. This is a good place to start, and I think your ideas are also crucial.
@@Shifter_Cycling Wish theft was taken at seriously in Ottawa. Only in recent months have a number of cops been focusing on bike theft. But still, there is little collaboration with cyclists. Also, Ottawa bike shops aren't on board with helping register bikes at point of sale, and they continue to sell useless cable locks.
I use 4 locks on my bike 2 of which are alarmed disk brake locks with thin attachable cables for easily removable parts like the quick release seat, 1 a heavy duty 13mm magnesium hex chain and the last one is a lighter chain to lock the front wheel to the front fork. And I got a folding bike so that I could keep it inside my apartment as all my past bikes have been stolen at night. Locking it up is time consuming but not nearly as time consuming as walking home. The hardest part is finding suitable places to lock it up that are visible to the public. I've also registered my bike with the company I bought it from and taken pictures of the serial numbers and myself with the bike for additional proof. I'll look into this other registration site but will continue to take the extra precautions I have regardless. If you're looking for an easy way to attach locks to your bike I recommend double sided velcro strips as a quick way to tie them down.
This guy needs to start the video: "To make a short story... long." If you are looking for a short version @23:30 "getting the Police on board is key." figure that out, and the rest are details.
That was a really cool video. Thanks for putting it together!