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Video shows ease with which bike thieves can go about their business

No-one approaches 'thief' armed with boltcutters at busy market in East London ...

Cycle parking specialists, Bike Dock Solutions, has deployed hidden cameras to highlight the ease with which thieves can steal a bike, even in busy surroundings, without anyone intervening to ask them what they are doing.

Filmed at Dagenham market in East London, more than ten ‘thefts’ were staged of a bike during a 60-minute period, none of which resulted in anyone approaching the ‘thief,’ who was equipped with a pair of boltcutters.

While the bike was ‘secured’ with the kind of flimsy cable lock that no cyclist wanting to hang on to their bike should use and the film is perhaps not the most rigorous of studies, it does highlight that on this occasion at least, the ‘thief’ was able to operate in broad daylight with impunity.

According to Bike Dock Solutions, the film underlines that it takes an average of nearly three minutes for people to become aware a theft has happened, and at particularly busy times, as many as 15 people could pass by a theft in progress without realising what was happening.

The company added that afterwards, market stewards said that a couple of people had told them they had seen someone stealing a bike, although that happened far too late to apprehend the ‘thief.’

In Greater London alone, 22,464 bikes were reported stolen to the Metropolitan Police in 2011, a 2.3 per cent increase on the previous year.

Josh Coleman, Director of Bike Dock Solutions, commented: “Although more and more people are being encouraged to take up cycling, they are still being deterred by the lack of secure cycle parking facilities.

"In the UK, a bicycle is stolen every minute and less than five per cent of those are returned to their owners," he continued.

“Cyclists are more likely to have their bikes stolen than motorcyclists their motorcycle or car owners their car, and cycle theft is found to be the single greatest deterrent to cycle use after fears concerning road safety,” he added.

Organisations including the London Cycling Campaign recommend using two secure-rated locks, one a D-lock, the other a chain or cable, and securing the bike to an immovable object such as a bike stand.

 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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33 comments

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workhard replied to Gkam84 | 12 years ago
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When you see a crime being committed you can't just pass by on the other side imo. I write from the perspective of someone who lives and works in two smallish country towns though, not the big (bad) city, and I'm a big unit.

I'd do what I've always done if it is a solo scrote or two or three kids. Stand at a safe distance of a couple of metres, watch 'em, and once I'm sure about what's going on I'd bellow at the top of my voice. "STOP! THIEF! That is NOT your bike! LEAVE IT! NOW!" and, these days, take a picture and phone the police.

The bolt cutters or stubby or pliers are a give away that it is a scrote at work. Honest John having been setup via the old bike-on-bike trick or having lots the keys nearly always uses a hacksaw or a poxy battery drill because they don't have the stubby or the knowledge of how to use it. Both methods take far too long and too much effort to be of use to someone who just wants to score their next fix.

The average bike thief nicking from the railings/stand in town will run a mile if you confront them. The really nasty ones drive vans and simply follow people home, or just try to push you off the bike to nick it (but that was in Stoke Newington!)

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fixer replied to Recumbenteer | 12 years ago
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I thought the same at the time. Although it did seem a lot of trouble to go to for a fairly battered bog-standard hybrid. But then the trouble that bike thieves go to never ceases to amaze me. If they put as much time and effort into doing something constructive...

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fixer replied to Recumbenteer | 12 years ago
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Recumbenteer wrote:
fixer wrote:

On 2 occasions I've returned to my bike outside Holland Park Tube to find another bike locked to it. Both times I went back to work and got a hacksaw. I then spent about 15 minutes sawing off the lock as 100's of people spilled out of the station. Not one approached me to ask what I was doing.

I suspect that was a thief's bike being used to get you to leave your bike, so he / she could steal it.

I thought the same at the time. Although it did seem a lot of trouble to go to for a fairly battered bog-standard hybrid. But then the trouble that bike thieves go to never ceases to amaze me. If they put as much time and effort into doing something constructive...

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