PLAYING AYI ITSS FE
Bike theft is hitting epidemic proportions all across the country. Scrotes on scoots are snatching our steeds in broad daylight. Here’s how to keep them away from your pride and joy…
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year or so, you’ll know that bike theft is hitting crisis levels in the UK. In London alone, more than 15,000 bikes, scooters and mopeds were nicked last year according to the Metropolitan Police – that’s more than 40 a day. And the bad guys have a host of new techniques and tactics which they’re using.
Previously-nicked scooters provide transport and an escape route, plus the crims can use them to push stolen bikes away, after smashing steering locks. Powerful battery-operated power tools let them cut off disc locks and chains, even slicing up brake discs if they have to. They threaten serious violence against onlookers who try to stop them, with weapons including hammers, cutting wheels and spray bottles of acid. And they know that police rules of engagement mean they won’t be chased if they take off their helmet, since there's a risk they'll be killed or seriously injured in a crash.
The result? Thousands of riders losing their bikes, massive insurance premium hikes, and many insurance firms refusing to cover bikes inside London at all. It’s a shitty state of affairs, to put it bluntly.
But fear not dear reader, because help is at hand. We’ve spoken to police, insurance brokers, industry experts and lawyers about how we can protect ourselves and our bikes from these modern-day bandits. And there is hope…