I found a small air pump (Zefal) by the roadside while riding and picked it up. When I looked at it later, while cleaning it at home, it was zip tied to the bracket and it seems that the bracket was used to attempt to mount it on one of the tubes of a bike which may have caused it to fall off. Wonder how a person could be so clueless and not even read the instructions for mounting. It could be a big box store assembler mentioned in some other post on a Walmart bike assembled wrong.

It's illegal to pick something up here if it isn't yours. Not calling you a criminal, just thought I'd point that out.

And the thought of the poor guy riding back looking for it. Or walking...

Me? I'd have picked it up too. You can never have too many pumps.

Wait...you find some random object in the dirt on the side of the road....and it's illegal for you to pick it up?

Why?

Theft. Even litter picking is technically theft, but you're not likely to get nicked for that. But yes, taking something you deem abandoned will land you in court if caught.

Wow. Are people okay with this?

Does the original owner of the property have to file a complaint? I mean could I just say "Hey, that pump was mine. It fell off my bike 3 weeks ago and I just found it today" or does all road trash just have to stay road trash forever?

That seems like it would be impossible to enforce.

We have similar laws in the US (that vary by state) but the value of the item has to exceed a certain value. like if you find a bag full of $50,000 cash on the side of the road you're supposed to call the police. Then if no one claims it after a certain period it's yours (minus taxes of the item's value and if they don't decide it's evidence in a crime and keep it for that reason)

But for a $20 bike pump and no witness claiming it was theirs, how would anyone know it's not yours?

Well, this is news to me. Maybe in England it's theft but I'm pretty sure that you would have a tough time with proving theft for picking up litter / junk anywhere in the USA. I've picked up quite a few things in my years on the road. If it were valuable or something like prescription glasses I'd probably try and find the owner, but anything else is free game as far as I'm concerned.

Even if you wanted to be a nice guy and return the prescription glasses...I mean what would you even do?

Like you I'd want to return them. They are of no value to me but cost someone who needs them a couple hundred bucks. But since glasses don't usually have a name tag on them....how could you return them even if you wanted to?

I found a dude's wallet once. It had his driver's license so I just put it in a box and mailed it back to him since I had his address. But most things, even expensive things, have no way to connect them back to a person.

lol tough laws in the UK. Arrested for picking up trash!

Here in the US, if someone leaves something in their garbage for pickup, I believe you can pick it out and take it.

I got a bunch of bike parts and a car-top carrier for a BMW that someone had left near the trash can once (the bike was toast - bent frame and stuff, but the parts were still good).

Yeah, there is really little you could do, perhaps try a Craigslist ad or perhaps turn them over to the police. I've done the same as you did but with a purse, got a very nice card with a gift certificate from the lady too.

But I've kept some stuff. A few tools, some brand new work gloves and a bungee cord or two. I've cleared a bunch of stuff because it looked dangerous. i saw an old ,mangled up pair of real Channellock pliers once, they were so big and riuned I just threw them in the ditch, they were right on the edge of the pavement and would have caused serious harm to anyone who would run over them, bike OR car.

There are quite a few people who can afford fancy bikes , but only know how to take pictures,
and ask questions, with out much of an idea about mechanics , or measuring,
because they learned computers rather than have shop classes
and owned cars you could service yourself, like boys* in the 50s were able to try.
*girls too but the gender roles , socially, was pretty defined back then ..


maybe you can mount it right, You are welcome to do that ,

no reason to project on a stranger because you found their stuff, by the roadside.

....

wait... what?!?
In italy the rule is: who find keep it

I'd definitely need an official source on that to believe it.

I could see that being true on private property but not on public property. A law like that would suggest that those "adopt the highway" crews are constantly breaking the law and trash has to be left where it is forever...

This.

Just yesterday I saw a review on Presta Valve caps on Amazon. Dude was super PO'ed that the threading was so off they wouldn't fit. Had a photo of him trying to put it on his Schrader valves and everything. And it was 100% serious.

But there are local laws in quite a few places about taking items from recycling containers. The city contracts often depend on the profits from items like soda cans offsetting the costs of items with less recycled value.

Didn't know that. Makes sense.

I recently was out for a walk and found a multiple-time painted little shelf. Turned out to be a very high quality mahogany bookcase or plant shelf. Glad I didn't get nabbed!

some bicycle accessories are provided with the worst mounting options. For some OEMs it's likely to be "interchangeable" to the various styles of bicycles... Others, they hope you liked the the product enough that if given the worst mounting possibilities, you'd source for another one from them [vicious cycle]. More than likely it's the later.

On a side note; I've opened carried my pump to seek out a theory. Not more than a handful of times riding about @ random I've had random people ask to borrow my pump to top off there PSI. Most instances. the majority did not have a flat from what I could observe. For all I know, it could have been an invitation of falsehood bringing about potential trouble. Elder folks & a couple of middle aged folks with there child I don't see any risks, but the jean wearing youth or rough looking individual are not typically known to give off a positive vibe imo.

I then re-stowed the pump later on ( & currently concealed) . Not one person waived me down/prompt me to see if I had a pump to lend them.
I prefer to choose whether not someone is in desperate need of assistance than to be delayed during my exercise/commute time from someone 'just wanting to top off there PSI".

Yep, a poor rating on eBay won't put me off until I've read the comments - often any negative comments will either point out something not relevant to me, or i can see their issue is more their fault than than that of the product.

Deposit is 10c a can , those get picked up by the un housed, who dig into on the curb cans..

who will pay the added cost of jailing them ?,
rather than leaving them be, and look for Burglars , Meth Labs,
and DUI drivers

Now we know what motivated Paul Revere.