Secured by Design bicycle security tips
There are around 300,000 bikes stolen each year, with 40% of all bike thefts occurring when the owner didn’t secure their bike, either forgetting to or thinking that it was safe. Around 70% of these thefts took place during the week and 30% took place during the weekend.
While large quantities of believed to be stolen bikes are recovered each year, the police are unable to return them or prosecute offenders as the owners of the bikes cannot be traced.
Secured by Design, the official police security initiative, have put together tips to help owners keep their bikes safe and secure, at work, at home or when travelling for holidays or leisure purposes.
The dedicated webpage - https://www.securedbydesign.com/guidance/crime-prevention-advice/bike-security - includes tips around registering bikes on appropriate databases, security marking and the type of locks which should be used to deter opportunistic thieves, as well as listing SBD member companies who have bike security products which have achieved Police Preferred Specification standard.
SBD work closely with standards and certification bodies to ensure that their publicly available standards actually meet the needs of the police and public alike.
Products must be subject to rigorous testing and additionally be fully certificated by an independent, third-party certification body accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) before being allowed to carry the SBD logo - this is the only way for companies to obtain police recognition for security-related products in the UK.
Third-party certification ensures products not only meet stringent security standards, but continue to be manufactured to a consistent quality through regular audit checks.