Shock warning! Should we ask for Registration?

[mike killay]

Well, we either do something about the huge number of bike thefts or we don't.
It is impractical to expect the Police to be able to do much because of the lack of identification on bikes.
So, we either put up with it and thereby encourage criminality, or accept our responsibilities in a 'civilised society' and change things.
Dealers will register the bikes if they are required to do so, as Flecc points out re cyclemotors.
We will never eradicate all theft, but we can seriously reduce the amount.

 

[Patrick]

If it a high street bike dealer that assembles the bike before selling it then registering it wouldn't be such a big deal, but what about online dealers like wiggle, and amazon.co.uk, and retailers that sell boxed bikes like Argos and Tesco. Asking them to open, register, and repack every bike they sell would add significantly to the handling costs.

(By the way, would someone coming in on a day trip from the continent be required to register their bikes and fit plates?)

Flecc mentioned the Japanese bicycle registration scheme so I did a bit of Googling and that one seems much more appropriate than the one proposed in this thread. So how about this, when you buy a new bike you go to a police station or a bike shop to register it in your name on a central database and a sticker with a registration number is stuck to the bike, there would be a £5 fee for this. In a high street bike shop this would be done as part of the purchase, but if you buy the bike online or from some other box-shifter source you take your paperwork along once you’ve got the bike. If you get a second hand bike you take it along to a bike shop or police station and show some proof of purchase to change the registration over to you, again for a £5 fee. The scheme would be optional, but insurance companies would expect your bike to be registered.

What do you think?

 

[flecc]

Yes, that's a good method, and it's similar to the method once used in Guernsey. There when going in to pay one's fee, a small clip on number plate was issued.

I had no preference for any one method, just proposing some form of registration to substantially cut the theft total, mainly to get opinions on it. As expected, most are hostile to any scheme, the normal reaction to any increase in bureaucracy and perceived loss of freedom