Universities around the country are encouraging students to ride bicycles, and reminding them of the importance of security and safety. The steps you need to take can’t be reiterated enough. Security-wise, bicycles are high-value items left out in the open, so naturally prove a target for burglars. Safety-wise, the roads are busier than ever. Here’s our advice to make sure you can ride, and ride safely.
It’s essential to get locks, and not just any. Your main lock should be a D-Lock. Secure it around the bike frame, through your back wheel and around the object you’re locking the bike to. Make sure to back this up with another lock. The second security measure could be a chain and combination lock, with the chain wrapped around around your front wheel, the object, and as many components as possible.
It’s crucial to make sure you secure your bike in all the right places. This means locking it in a public spot such as bike rack. This also means remembering when you should lock your bike up – you’d obviously do this when you’re out, but don’t forget to lock your bike at home too.
Take all that you can with you. If you’re out and wearing a backpack, you should consider taking your saddle and/or lights with you if you can. You might not be able to secure everything with your locks, nor would you necessarily want to go to all the effort, but taking the items that you can will give thieves less items that they can take. Indeed, focus on securing items that you can’t take with you.
If you’ve secured your bike properly, then you will significantly reduce the chance of it being picked as a target for theft. However, it’s really important to be aware of your environment. Keep an eye out for anyone who you may think is following or seems to be loitering in the area.
You should also ensure that your bike is of little interest to criminals, rather than just making theft difficult for them. You should take off any stickers which indicate brand (and therefore value), replacing them with other stickers. Any other marks that make the bike more distinguishable and less value will make it less attractive to a thief.
Even if you have taken all the steps above, still prepare for the chance of your bike getting stolen. The first step is to register your bike with Immobilise and Bike Register; the police have access to these, and therefore the database can be used to reunite you with your bike if it’s found.
You should also consider purchasing a security marking kit from Bike Register, and a subscription to Smart Water. The former is a more cost effective way of identifying your bike, whilst Smart Water is more expensive, but its coded, UV solution provides an invisible way of marking your property and linking it to an address.
Safety requires several steps too, as it’s easy to take your safety for granted. This is especially the case when you can see cars but forget that they might not be able to see you. The first step is by staying within the law. Make sure you keep your lights on or face a £30 fine, and don’t ride your bicycle on pavements.
There are also important optional steps you should take. Wear high-visibility clothing day or night, and make sure you choose jackets for the times of day. You should also consider taking cycle and maintenance training; the latter would be particularly useful as you should maintain your bike as well as you would any other vehicle.
However, it’s most important to be aware on a bicycle. If you’re on the road, be focused on your surroundings, primarily because of vehicle blind spots. Try and learn the general lines of sight in vehicle mirrors, and be aware of the movements of vehicles around you, and consider how they might move.
Hopefully our advice will allow you to be secure and safe. Take a look at our post on student home security for advice on how you should keep your property safe.
