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Is your bike as safe and secure as you think it is?

In response to a recent surge in the number of bicycle thefts in York, Safer York Partnership is planning to demonstrate to cyclists which types of locks are most effective and offer advice on how to keep your bike safe and secure.

With the support of Cycling City York, the Bike Rescue Project and North Yorkshire Police, a series of demonstrations will take place in King’s Square in York city centre between 10am and 4pm on Friday 29 October.

Members of the public will be encouraged to ‘attack’ a selection of locks so that they can see for themselves which are the toughest and find out which ones leave bikes vulnerable to theft. A mechanic from the Bike Rescue Project will show people just how easy it is to remove some of the weaker locks that are currently available on the market.

The aim of the event is remind cyclists that their bikes may not be as safe and secure as they think they are by showing how easily thieves can target certain types of locks.

Bernie Cullen of the Bike Rescue Project said: “There are many inferior types of locks on the market; basically you get what you pay for. Some cheaper locks appear robust but can easily be forced open or twisted off, which means that they offer little or no protection against a seasoned bike thief.”

North Yorkshire Police officers regularly patrols bike racks in the city centre and are often dismayed at the poor quality of some of the locks that cyclists use to secure the bikes. Inferior locks are relatively easy to spot, even from a distance.

Sergeant Jon Asvadi of the Guildhall Safer Neighbourhoods Team said: “We’re now getting to the stage where we can almost predict which bikes are going to be targeted – usually a valuable-looking bike secured by a low quality lock. No lock is absolutely fail-safe, but speed is of the essence to a bike thief. They would be less likely to tackle a more challenging lock, which will take longer to remove and leave them at greater risk of being caught.”

Tanya Lyon, crime reduction manager for Safer York Partnership, explained: “We’ve organised the event in response to higher than usual levels of cycle theft in York. We want to equip as many cyclists as possible with the knowledge that they need to make it as difficult as possible for thieves to target their bikes.”

As part of the event, North Yorkshire Police Officers will be security marking people’s bikes. This takes less than a minute and means that your bike can be easily identified by police officers if it’s ever stolen or goes missing. This easy method of identifying bikes helps to ensure that they can be quickly reunited with their rightful owners, and thieves can be arrested and brought to justice. Your bike will be given a small, unique marking that will be linked to your details and your cycle’s details on the Operation Spoke database. Every bike registered as part of Operation Spoke will also be registered with IMMOBILISE, a national property register. Therefore, if your cycle leaves the York area, it can be quickly identified by officers from other police forces.

The Cycling City York team will attend the event to remind people about the need to ‘light up and be seen’ in order to stay safe on the roads this winter and can offer advice about the best kind of lights to buy. There will also be an opportunity for people to buy discounted bike locks.

For more information and advice about keeping you and your bike safe, visit the Cycling City York website at: www.cyclingcityyork.org.uk

 

Posted: 22/10/2010

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