Theft of bikes is a real issue, with thousands being stolen across the Humberside Policing area every year. This is one area where crime prevention can have a massive impact and a small personal investment can drastically reduce your chance of becoming a victim.
Top Tips
Never leave your bike outside your house or in your garden unlocked. Ideally store it in your house, particularly if it is worth a lot, but if you have to keep it in a shed or garage make sure the shed or garage has a good quality lock and block out any windows. Don’t just leave your bike in a shed or garage, lock it inside and consider locking it to a cycle anchor that is bolted to the wall or floor.
Good quality locks make all the difference when it comes to the theft of bikes.Spend a bit of money on a decent D-lock and you will really reduce the chance of your bike being stolen.
If you are leaving your bike in the street, where possible, use well-lit cycle stands that are fixed to the ground and lock both your frame and your wheels to the stand.If there are no stands lock your bike to secure street furniture like railings and lampposts.
Lock your bike in places where there are plenty of people and ideally a spot covered by a CCTV camera.
Think twice about posting ‘track My Ride’ app results or pictures of your bike on social media sites, especially if your home address can also be viewed. Most TrackMy Ride apps have settings which stop within a given distance of your home address. Check your security settings and set at least a 1000m exclusion zone around your house.
Advice for keeping your cycle secure
Humberside Police have a webpage full of useful tips and advice here https://www.humberside.police.uk/protect-your-cycle.
And a very useful leaflet which you can download here.
If you’ve got your cycle stored in a shed or garage then remember our advice from yesterday about keeping that space safe and secure too!
If you’re buying equipment to protect your bike, then take a look at the Sold Secure website first and look up bike products. This website brings together all the products that meet safety and security criteria. You’ll end up purchasing items from other retailers but use Sold Secure to make sure you are buying the right equipment in the first place. And decide what the bike is worth to you. It’s common to spend 10% of the value of the bike on security equipment. So if you’ve got a £500 bike you should think of investing at least £50 on security. If you’ve got a high value bike, make sure it’s covered properly on your insurance too.
Keep it safe!
Also of interest should be Operation Yellowfin which is looking at reducing motorbike crimes. Have a read of the very latest update on the Humberside Police website here https://www.humberside.police.uk/news/op-yellowfin-continued-action-against-motorcycle-related-crime