Check That Bike! is a recently launched online database allows cyclists to check the provenance of any bike they are looking to buy second hand, but despite over one in ten searches of the website returning a bicycle suspected as stolen, police forces and cycle insurance companies appear reluctant to contribute their data to the scheme.
The ETA is the only cycle insurance company currently to be sharing its claims data.
Unlike other frame number check schemes, the Check That Bike! is not a database of pre-registered bikes so it has the potential to be a far more comprehensive a service.
The website allows frame numbers to be searched against a database of those reported stolen to authorities. The website recently won £40,000 in a competition supported by the Open Data Institute.
A spokesperson for the ETA said: “A passive reaction to cycle crime plays into the hands of thieves – the police and cycle insurers, as well as potential outlets for stolen bikes such as eBay and Gumtree, should quickly unite to back Check That Bike!”
It is impossible to know precisely how many bicycles are stolen in Britain each year, but some estimates put the figure at over 500,000.
G Grant
A great idea – hope to see them in all the bike shops.
Amoeba
Quote: “Check That Bike! does not require a bicycle to be registered before being stolen.”
In that case, I won’t register my bikes, because that will prevent them being stolen! 😉
Also “It is impossible to know precisely howe many bicycles are stiolen in Britain each year” – A dictionary is required in the office!
Dick Willis
I register my bikes with Immobilise, the service backed by the police. I’ve had a number of bikes stolen, despite them carrying the Immobilise tag but only one has been recovered, that was within a day or so of the theft and was probably just a frame number check carried out by the policeman who pulled over a well know scally on a local estate. The Immobilise service requires payment of a fee to check if a bike has been reported as stolen and even though this fee has been reduced, it is a disincentive for anyone to check the status of a bike they are considering buying. To have a central register of stolen bikes with free (preferably App based) access would be a major step forward and would be enhanced by a legally enforceable obligation on traders to consult this register before buying a bike that’s been offered to them and, similarly, on anyone selling or swapping bikes via eBay, FaceBook etc.
Rosalyn
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