Good q posed by the Amy Gillett Foundation re: registering bikes

[crazycanuck]

If you're on facebook, they've posed this question:Would you participate in voluntary registration of your bike if it sent a message to drivers that you are willing to be identifiable and accountable?Btw..if you're not on facebook, there's always the AG website (www.amygillett.org.au)

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/a...ndation?ref=nf

What are your thoughts?

[MartianDestiny]

I think that's a HUGE IF there.

No, I'm not very willing to pay some ridiculous fee (I already pay for the roads, thank you very much) and display a tacky tag or worse sticker on 4 bikes (especially not my beautiful piece of carbon fiber) because someone THINKS it will appease them.

I am ALL FOR bikers being held accountable for their actions on the road, but it's not lack of license plates that's preventing this. We know that the chance of a cop actually pulling us over, even if we do something blatantly wrong in front of them, is slim to none in most areas. That needs to change. But even with that the fact remains that the vast majority of cyclists (ie: those that would actually bother to get their bikes registered) don't "drive" any worse or any more dangerously than "cagers". Obviously the license plates aren't making them think twice about their actions...they still aren't being held accountable.

Not to mention I see this as something that is potentially horribly abused. "Yes officer, a bike with plate -----, is riding "recklessly"" (ie: is 6 inches from the shoulder, in MY lane, and has made me 3 seconds later for work because they are going a whooping 2 MPH under the speed limit, but I wanted to go 10 over...). Whose the cop going to believe? NOT the cyclist. NO thank you!

[Biciclista]

yes, i'd register my bike(s) if the fee was reasonable. If a car is stolen, they can track it by the VIN number. But a bike? change the paint, and your bike can disappear forever.

[MartianDestiny]

yes, i'd register my bike(s) if the fee was reasonable. If a car is stolen, they can track it by the VIN number. But a bike? change the paint, and your bike can disappear forever.

Bikes have serial numbers.

Works about as good as a VIN number for actually getting your property back (ie: neither work). A decent car thief is going to have it parted well before someone finds the VIN, at that point it doesn't really matter that they found your door in a junk yard somewhere with the VIN half scratched off...

Insurance, and trying to be reasonably careful and proactive, are your best bet.

Register your bike and the thief is just going to pull the "license plate" or sticker right off. My commuter bikes are registered with my college (because they, stupidly, have to be for "anti-theft" reasons), when I switched from undergrad to grad school it took me a whooping 30 seconds per bike to completely remove and replace the stickers...

[Owlie]

Register your bike and the thief is just going to pull the "license plate" or sticker right off. My commuter bikes are registered with my college (because they, stupidly, have to be for "anti-theft" reasons), when I switched from undergrad to grad school it took me a whooping 30 seconds per bike to completely remove and replace the stickers...

My university has that option. I haven't, simply because the campus is easily walkable. I don't park my bike outside--it lives in my room where there's relatively little chance of it getting stolen. The "registration" is basically a "hello, my name is" sticker with a number on it. Not worth the paper it's printed on to deter theft.

[MartianDestiny]

My university has that option.

It's "required" here. They actually do give tickets and impound bikes with no stickers on occasion (normally at the beginning and end of the semesters). So, the ones I'm likely to lock to a rack occasionally have to have the stupid sticker.

I don't mind as the $$$ supposedly goes into bike infrastructure on campus (something I'm apparently NOT paying for otherwise, unlike the roads). I do wish they'd say "hey, we are collecting a fee for infrastructure for your use, here's a sticker that says you've paid, as an added bonus, we'll keep up with the number so we know the bike is yours", instead of "buy into this great theft prevention tool" (LOL, riiiight...)

[Owlie]

It's "required" here. They actually do give tickets and impound bikes with no stickers on occasion (normally at the beginning and end of the semesters). So, the ones I'm likely to lock to a rack occasionally have to have the stupid sticker.

I don't mind as the $$$ supposedly goes into bike infrastructure on campus (something I'm apparently NOT paying for otherwise, unlike the roads). I do wish they'd say "hey, we are collecting a fee for infrastructure for your use, here's a sticker that says you've paid, as an added bonus, we'll keep up with the number so we know the bike is yours", instead of "buy into this great theft prevention tool" (LOL, riiiight...)

They give us a free lock if we register our bikes with campus security. It's a Kryptonite U-lock, so they're not cheap otherwise. What bugs me is the way the went about advertising it--at the beginning of the semester, they went around the bike racks and attached tags saying "Chain locks are easily cut" to bikes secured with chain locks. Not the smartest way to advertise it.

[Biciclista]

my bike does not have a serial number.
and most people who have bikes with serial numbers do not know this information.

[7rider]

The first thing I do when I buy a new bike is photograph it, and flip it over and photograph the serial number (usually, on the bottom of the bottom bracket housing). I've had a bike stolen before, but still, I highly doubt my efforts would do any good for theft recovery. Makes me feel less powerless, I suppose.
My local police department offers bike registration every year here at Bike to Work Day. Again, it's theft recovery, and not law enforcement for vehicular biking.

[MartianDestiny]

most people who have bikes with serial numbers do not know this information.

Sorry to sound cold, but that is their problem, not mine. All they have to do is flip the bike over and write it down.

You think those people are going to have the "license" number written down in a safe place but not the serial number?

If I was worried about a custom (presumably) bike without a serial number (a fair number of custom makers stamp a serial number anyway, so your situation is pretty rare) I'd etch an identification into the bottom bracket shell (same place as a serial number) or even drop a laminated piece of paper with my info on it down the seat tube long before I trusted a highly visible and easily removable piece of "id" with theft recovery.

[Biciclista]

Presumably, a person would register his bike. said registration would include locating and recording bike's serial number if one exists. then the "license number" would then be associated with it, paperwork exchanged, and a stamp/sticker/electronic device put on said device. It's a free country; you don't have to do it. even if it's mandatory (which isn't going to happen)

[MartianDestiny]

Presumably, a person would register his bike. said registration would include locating and recording bike's serial number if one exists. then the "license number" would then be associated with it, paperwork exchanged, and a stamp/sticker/electronic device put on said device. It's a free country; you don't have to do it. even if it's mandatory (which isn't going to happen)

The police also aren't likely to go looking for a stolen bike unless it smacks them in the face, and that isn't going to change (we *may* make it up to the realm of what they do for cars, but not many cars are recovered whole based on database searches alone either. That's not the purpose of the licensing system.).

We've gotten way off topic here though, the mandatory licensing was for accountability of OUR actions and appeasing motorists, not theft deterrent.

As for the last comment, that's just snarky and rude. The definition of mandatory is precisely that you do HAVE to do it. Yea, I can make the choice not to (ie: ignore/willfully break the law)...I can do that in a dictatorship as well ("it's a free country" has NOTHING to do with the ABILITY to make that choice), but there would (presumably, in this fictitious, but very plausible, scenario) be consequences possibly repeatedly. What "it's a free country" gives me is the ability to stand up and say "NO, I don't want this to be mandatory and it won't solve the problem you are trying to address" and attempt to prevent the law from being enacted or get it repealed. It does NOT mean I am free to disregard it while it's on the books, that's absurd. It's akin to saying "it's a free country" would actually get you somewhere at your murder trial.

You want some theft ID system, highly unsuccessful and flawed as it may be (though it won't help with your bike because it won't be tied to your non-existent serial number), fine, ok. I can be completely and totally behind that. On a VOLUNTARY basis. Of course such a program already exists in many municipalities, and through private institutions (companies). That information can, and in some cases already is, being distributed in national databases.

Basically, what you want already exists. Don't make it law for me to participate in it to "protect me from my own stupidity" (as I like to phrase it). That's not the government's job or business.

Now, if it were actually to protect OTHERS from my stupidity (like suggested in the OP by helping to hold me accountable for my actions), and it was a well enacted, well thought out, well enforced plan that would actually make a difference, fine, no problems, go for it. I don't believe these programs (as they have been discussing them) will do any of those things, so I see it as the government trying to force me put an ugly tag on my bike and give them more money but little else.

On the anti-theft end of things, I'd love to see a transmitting GPS type chip (like OnStar or similar uses) small enough and affordable enough to be hidden in/on a bike, so you can track it if it's stolen (or even potentially EMS could use it to track your location). This DOESN'T exist, though we are getting close (they have collars for dogs, but they are EXPENSIVE and not quite small enough yet). I'd buy into that. Obviously, that's the realm of a private company and not the government, however.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

If you're on facebook, they've posed this question:Would you participate in voluntary registration of your bike if it sent a message to drivers that you are willing to be identifiable and accountable?Btw..if you're not on facebook, there's always the AG website (www.amygillett.org.au)
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/a...ndation?ref=nf

What are your thoughts?

My thoughts? That I'm glad I'm not on Face Book.

(hey, you asked!)