A ’90% chance of theft’ causes insurer to cancel plans for one type of e-bike
A ’90% chance of theft’ causes insurer to cancel plans for one type of e-bike
Fatbikes, of all things...
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So that means huge percentage, close to 90% of riders riding this bicycle are a thief. Seems like an easy problem to solve. Issue certification cards which have the same serial as bicycle. Stop everyone riding it. If they don't have the card, off to jail. Problem would be solved practically over night.
Would require some pretty hefty changes in law, making registration akin to registering full size motor vehicles. But hey I'd be all in favor. These things are of course technically better than cars environmentally speaking but they're still godawful compared to a proper bike.
Bicycles already have a serial number under crankshaft.
All am saying is for either government or manufacturer to issue a standardized plastic card to indicate ownership. Doesn't even have to have a name on it. Just serial number and bike description or whatever. So whoever steals your bike will have to steal the card as well making it significantly harder.
Unless there's a way to verify authenticity, which would require central registration of some sort (good luck with that), such a card would be easily faked. It'd impact legit owners more than actual thieves, since many people would probably lose theirs at some point.
Central registration exists already. The two big ones are Project 529 and Bike Index. I highly recommend them. Bike theft is down in Vancouver even while ridership has skyrocketed.
You might be right, but bike theft is rampant and needs to be stopped. Especially as we are looking to get over climate problems.
Why can't they be locked or chained?
Those only delay theft by dozen or so minutes. Most people don't have garage to leave they bikes in.
Or just forge it.
You can have a “public key/private key” system, so the code on the card is matched with but is not the same as the code on the bike.
Most of the bikes are probably resold to buyers who have no idea it's stolen goods
Solution would work the same. Buying a bike without registration card would be a warning to buyer.
This is the Netherlands we're talking about, where there are literally millions more bikes than humans. Good luck getting all existing bikes registered.
It can start from new sales forwards, slowly saturating the market.
Not existing, but new.
There are many ways to help a shop owner figure out if it is stolen, such as microdots.
"This bike is stolen" "I bought it off someone, didn't know" "Who was it? What are their details?" Arrest that person. What's the issue?
Next guy says 'Nope, never seen this guy before in my life.' Or any of a hundred other excuses.
In reality though, most minor crimes today are solvable, no registration required. The issue is lack of motivation and/or resources on the part of the police
So, how many details do you need to give someone when you sell your bike that you didn't end up using as much as you thought?
How would people know which bikes requires so much information to sell or purchase?