Study finds bike theft on people’s minds
Andy Riga has a report on a McGill study that found that bike theft deters people from cycling as much as they might if safe bike lockups were made available. He has a map showing where most thefts occur.
That map should say “fewer bicycle thefts”…
Marc 09:54 on 2012/08/03 Permalink
A good solution is what they have in Whitehorse. They have lockers. Kind of like storage boxes and all you have to do is bring your own standard padlock. I took a picture when I was there a couple years ago. I dunno if I can post it here, though.
Joey 10:10 on 2012/08/03 Permalink
Shouldn’t it be “fewest”? “Fewer” works if “most” becomes “more.” Anyhow, there couldn’t be more ways “less” is wrong.
meezly 10:41 on 2012/08/03 Permalink
I agree. In terms of an opposite for “most”, “fewest” should be used for countable nouns, and “least” for uncountable nouns. It’s a very common error. Too bad a McGill study had such a grammatical error, but still an interesting study nonetheless.
Bill Binns 13:29 on 2012/08/03 Permalink
I would probably use my bike more if I could just lean it up against the wall while I ran into the dep for two minutes. As it is, I don’t even like leaving my dog in front of the dep for fear he will be stolen. We could also make theft of a bicycle on par with theft of a car (call it “theft of a vehicle”) and actually throw people in jail for stealing bikes. I doubt the police even respond in any way to theft of bicycles now.
Also, I see bikes all over town that are locked up but have had their wheels collapsed by someone jumping on them. Who the hell is doing that? This sort of senseless destruction pisses me off to no end, even when it’s not my property.
walkerp 14:33 on 2012/08/03 Permalink
I’m with you on both points there, Bill Binns. A friend of mine once pointed out that back in the Wild West Days that would be like someone going by and smashing your horse with a sledge hammer.
Chris 19:50 on 2012/08/03 Permalink
Bill, in the Québec Highway Code, a bicycle is a vehicle (though not a _motor_ vehicle). But, as much as I despise bike thieves, the average bike is worth way less than the average car, so the crimes aren’t quite the same.