The French have made it mandatory to have your bike marked

[Paulus]

Wouldn't it be a bit of a faff to inform the registration people about selling a bike to a new owner, having to get the new address and details and then updating said details?

 

[byegad]

As to insurance, British Cycling, Cycling UK and private insurers offer 3rd party cover, I'm currently with an insurance company who offer it for £20 or so per annum. I can't recall off hand if it offers £5000000 or £10000000 cover but either is more than enough.

 

[newfhouse]

Wouldn't it be a bit of a faff to inform the registration people about selling a bike to a new owner, having to get the new address and details and then updating said details?

Yes. Who would pay for administering the sale and ownership of a bike that may only be worth a tenner?

 

[mustang1]

And the people that gave us the Maginot Line, now give us what every bike already has...frame numbers!

We've had frame numbers since time immemorial, it's just that practically no one notes them down or records them in an accessible manner - its3 the latter thatnis the problem, not the lack of any identifiable mark or serial number.

Little evidence that marking reduces theft, although it may make reuiniting bikes with their owners easier.

And as for RLJ'ing... the presence of very large, highly visible, reflective number plates does nothing to make car driving RLJ'ers think twice about zipping though, so I can see no reason why cycling road users would be any different because of a small bar code. As it is, if you've committed an offence and fail to identify yourself to an officer when requested they can arrest you and keep you until you are identified, so there is no additional threat of sanction hanging over any naughty people.

+1

And those <strike>pesky</strike> insurance companies... (British Cycling, CTC, and cycling specific companies excepted, I'm talking about larger insurance companies getting in on the act, i just don't trust them).

 

[Archie_tect]

Any identification would be easy to remove or alter so it's doubtful whether it will deter theft or make it easier to return stolen bikes to their owners, even if it is a registration plate which is linked to a database, I can't see any value in doing it.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Quite possibly, but not every family will have such insurance.

I'm not for a minute suggesting this should be mandatory, I was just curious: I've been here nearly half my life and never had to deal with such grown up things as insurance before I left the UK.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Any identification would be easy to remove or alter so it's doubtful whether it will deter theft or make it easier to return stolen bikes to their owners, even if it is a registration plate which is linked to a database, I can't see any value in doing it.

I wonder about this here: a "mofa" (small motorbike/e-bike) registration plate has to be renewed every year: owners go and buy one from an insurance company and register it, then fit it to their scooter. This means the plates can easily be removed, so I'm not sure in that case what use they will be in the case of theft.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Make registration compulsory and millions of bikes will be left in the shed, unregistered.
How will this square with Borislies' commitment to increasing exercise?

 

[Once a Wheeler]

The Swiss used to have a bicycle number plate system:

The letters indicated the canton and the white-on-red figures gave the year. The individual bike number can just be made out stamped into the bare-metal strip at the bottom of the plate. Most cyclists rivetted it to the rear mudguard; sporting cyclists tended to attach it to the seat bolt or the rear brake bolt. It was compulsory and issued for an annual fee. I think the system included a very basic third-party insurance. Obviously the procedure was deemed more trouble than it was worth as they abandoned it in 1988.

With modern technology, there could perhaps be a good case for an equivalent system.

 

[matticus]

Wouldn't it be a bit of a faff to inform the registration people about selling a bike to a new owner, having to get the new address and details and then updating said details?

If the intention is to reduce theft, this is a big plus!

 

[MontyVeda]

I think Denmark has a similar scheme. I don't know what bike theft levels there are like.

...

When i was visiting Denmark 20 years ago, i was told by a native that around one in five bikes were stolen... so 20%

@steveindenmark will probably have a better idea.

 

[BoldonLad]

.... what i gathered, it looks like they have to leg display a bar code on the frame which will identify the rightful owner.
I suppose the police could then simply scan the bar code on the bike to ascertain whether the bike is listed as stolen. I suppose bikes could be quickly checked while there locked up at train stations ect to see if they've got some black mark against them.

It may be a suitable way to deter theft, but, I don't see how it is going to identify errant cyclists, is every driver and pedestrian going to carry a barcode scanner on their person? How would you scan the bar code as an errant cyclist sped past you?

 

[matticus]

@steveindenmark will probably have a better idea.

Why do you think he moved there??

;-)

 

[Andy in Germany]

It may be a suitable way to deter theft, but, I don't see how it is going to identify errant cyclists, is every driver and pedestrian going to carry a barcode scanner on their person? How would you scan the bar code as an errant cyclist sped past you?

Also, anyone other than the police who did such a thing would probably be in breach of a number of data protection rules.

 

[newfhouse]

Also, anyone other than the police who did such a thing would probably be in breach of a number of data protection rules.

I doubt that’s true, it doesn’t seem much different to reading the letters and numbers on a car index plate.

And anyway, this is the UK - we don’t have to worry about unnecessary red tape like that these days.