jvande7

Seriously. They should hang bike thieves. Just like they did with horse thieves in the old days.

Ok maybe that's a bit much but they should try bike thieves as automobile thieves. Why not? If a bike is equal to a car on the road, why do bike thieves get off easy in a court of law? For many people their bike is their car. Their only mode of transport. To take a man's wheels is a serious crime. Punishable by a whole lotta whoopass if I catch you.

Any thoughts on this?

agoodman

I am new to biking and brand new to the forum, but I've gotta agree with you... if somebody stole my new found source of joy/love I'd want them to get more than a slap on the wrist for sure!

CaptainCool

Bikes aren't equal to cars; bike riders are equal to drivers. Semantics, but important if you're bringing up the phrasing of the law.

I doubt this is true for very many bike owners in the US.

broakland

I dont want anything to do with the olden' days. But if your chariot was stolen, just call these guys...
...truthfully: these "bad***es" look like easy prey to me

apollored

If anyone stole my pride and joy and yes main mode of transport, I would want them 100 lashed and fined lots of money to buy either me a new one or all my bus/ tram fares I would have to pay as I dont have my bike any more.

Or just give my bike back thank you!

The police here have a Bike Postcoding Scheme where they stamp the postcode on the frame and record it in case it is stolen and they recover it.

Supposedly they then can trace you and return your bike but when a girl had hers taken and it was found to have been sold by the thief to someone else, the original owner had to buy it back which defeats the whole object of the scheme.

So I have photos of mine and details of it as proof.

jvande7

So what's the key factor in making theft of a vehicle a serious crime with serious consequences? Having an engine? If so, that's horsesh1t man. Just because it's a bike that's been stolen doesn't mean that thief should get off any easier than a guy who stole a BMW. By that logic, a guy who steals my 1997 Honda Civic would get less jailtime than a guy who steals a brand new Ferrari, right? Value should have little to do with it. Liek tampering with mailboxes is a felony. Why? Mailboxes aren't expensive. Mail is just paper. Why am I suddenly a felon if I write graffiti on a mailbox versus a newspaper vending machine? Oh because it's government property? Well the bike is my property. Maybe if the laws were stiffened, people wouldn't have to lose sleep over wondering if their bicycle will make it through the night locked up where it is.

And yes dude, I don't know how it is in San Jose, but in Chicago there are many people who have bikes but no cars. I know because I was one of them for a year after a tow truck towing an SUV demolished my car head-on with me in it.

prooftheory

The average cost. The average cost of a car getting stolen is in the thousands of dollars, whereas the average cost of a bicycle being stolen is probably less than $300, making it misdemeanor theft. A cop isn't going to make the calculation that the bike that got stolen was a cinelli lazer and thus the theft is grand-theft. He just thinks that a bike is bike. And anyway that is one less bike for him to worry about.

Nagrom_

Grand Theft Auto, and Grand Theft(if your bike was worth $950 or more) can both be felony charges, and can result in the same punishments. 1.5 - 3 years in California.

If your bike wasn't worth that, it's petty theft, which is up to 6 months in county, up to 3 years probation, and up to a $1000 fine, in California. Also, if you have priors, petty theft charges are filed as felonies, which are dealt with similarly to grand theft.

There are also enhancements, the guy who stole the Ferrari would get another year because the value was over $65k.

jvande7

Yeah it was a far-fetched and ill-researched argument to begin with. Kinda just wanted to rant about bike thieves. It makes sense that bike theft is typically petty theft but some folks put their heart and soul into building/customizing/maintaining a bike... seems a shame that there is basically nothing stopping thieves from trying to steal bikes. Sometimes I wish our country was more like those countries where if you steal, they chop off your hands. (are there such places?)
Sure that's a bit extreme but I bet people start behaving real quick like after they see a few ex-thieves strolling around handless.

Nagrom_

Yeah... I totally want to live in a 3rd world country. Stop, and think about what you are saying for a sec.

I think having 3 years of your life taken away is plenty a punishment for taking someones bicycle.

jvande7

Haha believe me I fully appreciate America. I wasn't being serious in the majority of this post. I guess it's hard to tell that over the internet. But yeah, USA all the way brother.

Do people really get 3 years for bicycle theft? I feel like in Illinois, they wouldn't even get jail time. But that's not based on any factual evidence. Just a hunch. There are far worse things to worry about around here. I think 46 people got shot last weekend.

Also, I'm not sure I want my tax dollars funding a prison full of bike thieves. Isn't there some other way? A tattoo on the forehead which says "low life" perhaps?

PJCB

Regardless of how you researched this, I can say with certainty that we all hate bike thieves. Personally, I think its bull. A lot of people (especially on this forum) have bikes worth more than their cars. When I move to by car-lite city, I'll be getting renter's insurance to cover my bikes, just in case.

Also--jvande7 is obviously being funny/sardonic about chopping off sticky fingers, lets take it easy guys.

CabezaShok

Caning...
works in Singapore

broakland

this is a tutorial of what to do with a bike thief: https://vimeo.com/6475675

this is the best part: