How long will an unchained bike last in a city street before someone steals it?

09Oct08

By Fiona Ortiz Reuters – Thursday, October 9 01:24 am

(Reuters) – How long will an unchained bicycle last on a city street before someone steals it?

Using hidden cameras and cheap bicycles as bait, an Argentine publicist set out to gauge crime in different neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires. The longer it takes for the bike to be stolen the safer the area, is his hypothesis.

“It’s not a statistic but in a way it shows that the places where the bicycle gets robbed really quickly perhaps the quality of life is poorer,” said Mariano Pasik, 37.

Pasik speeds up the videos, sets them to music and puts them on a website (http://www.lapruebadelabicicleta.com/ ). He hopes other videographers will join his nonprofit “Bicycle Test” project and create a worldwide insecurity index.

It could become an informal crime gauge akin to the “Big Mac Index,” which compares the cost of the same McDonald’s sandwich in different countries to give an idea of buying power of people in different places, Pasik said.

Pasik, who runs his own publicity firm Liebre Amotinada Ideas (Mutinous Hare Ideas), said the project is part art, part reality show, part journalism and part fun.

Filed under: Uncategorized   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: bike thief cycling