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Register your bicycle with UNM
by REGINA LARIONOVA, C&J
371
Published in the Daily Lobo — Dec.
2, 2005
Have you ever had your bicycle stolen? If not, you might.
A 1994
study of bicycle theft on college campuses in the United States
conducted by Integrated Cycle Systems found that a four-year
college student has a 53 percent chance of having his or her
bike stolen. Twenty percent of the stolen bicycles were recovered
by police, and only half of those were returned to their owners.
It’s actually even less considering thefts that were
not reported.
I assume the situation is worse now. However,
it still hasn’t
taught a lesson to a majority of bicyclists, both inexperienced
and those who faced this problem. One of my friends had a bicycle
stolen on campus two times in a row and both during the daytime — he
still hasn’t bought a better lock.
Many of the expensive
bikes that are usually an attraction for campus thieves have
a cheap lock. Though even U-lock failure is growing in every
region, only 2 percent of stolen bikes were locked with a U-lock,
so it can reduce your chances to become a theft victim significantly.
I
am really surprised that having such an obvious problem the
University of New Mexico Police Department does not make the
students aware of the bicycle registration service that is available
on campus. It’s free and valid for four years so in case
your bicycle is stolen you can prove your ownership — if
they find it, of course. National Bike Registry charges $25
for a lifetime registration at natlbike.com. Bicycle Link
at bicyclelink.com is an international registry that costs
$10 for 10 years.
Otherwise, many students don’t keep
the receipt for their bicycles, so when police do find a
stolen bike they cannot return it to the owner because he
or she doesn’t have any proof
of ownership. And then, wiping tears away, you see your bike
on sale at the Police Department. You can buy your own bike
again, if you want.
When I had my orientation meeting for
international students, the police officer warned us about
the high statistics of bicycle thefts on campus, but for
some reason didn’t tell us that
they actually have the registration service.
So I decided
not to have a bike and to ride a bus instead. Well, at
least nobody will steal that.
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