9 ms·

Cities should levy a bike tax and use it to fund some snipers that shoot assholes who steal bikes.

by dmm 14y ago

tripa 14y ago
How would the sniper be supposed to distinguish the robber from the owner?
- dmm 14y ago
  The thief is using a battery powered angle grinder to remove the u-lock. The owner uses a key. The snipers will be well trained to distinguish between the two. Hmm. Maybe this would be a good application of unmanned drones?
  - rosser 14y ago
    And what happens when an owner who lost his key gets shot for cutting his own lock?
    - ketralnis 14y ago
      Call me crazy, but I'm going to guess that the sniper suggestion was in jest.
    - JonnieCache 14y ago
      We did that a couple of times with a mains-powered angle grinder and a mini generator. In the middle of the afternoon, in a shopping street. Got some funny looks, I can tell you. Nobody said anything though. Certainly didn't get shot.
    - pbhjpbhj 14y ago
      Colateral damage. It also encourages owners to keep a spare key ... so it's not all bad.
pilsetnieks 14y ago
Although I believe that summary executions are in bad taste, I want to point out that, au contraire, the tax should be levied on car owners (to encourage cycling).
- ketralnis 14y ago
  Not everyone can choose to bike instead of drive. When my driving commute was an hour longer than it is now, such a tax would not have encouraged me to cycle instead.
  - dasil003 14y ago
    Your commute is over an hour? Man, I had a 45 minute commute once for a few months and I vowed never again.
  - lmm 14y ago
    There's always a choice. Maybe you'd've taken a different job - or maybe that job would've relocated somewhere more accessible. (I don't believe in "punitive" taxes on cars, but I do think gas should be taxed enough to cover the cost of cleaning up its CO2/other pollution, and the resulting money spent on doing that).
stephencanon 14y ago
You could just tranquilize them and then release them into the wild.
qq66 14y ago
These guys did that -- set up a bait bike and paintballed the guy. I don't condone vigilantism but here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi6XtthI2F0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi6XtthI2F0
- cpeterso 14y ago
  That video is totally fake and a great way to get shot by real guns.

Cities should levy a bike tax and use it to fund some snipers that shoot assholes who steal bikes.

by dmm 14y ago

Cities should levy a bike tax and use it to fund some snipers that shoot assholes who steal bikes.

tripa 14y ago

How would the sniper be supposed to distinguish the robber from the owner?

dmm 14y ago
The thief is using a battery powered angle grinder to remove the u-lock. The owner uses a key. The snipers will be well trained to distinguish between the two. Hmm. Maybe this would be a good application of unmanned drones?
- rosser 14y ago
  And what happens when an owner who lost his key gets shot for cutting his own lock?
  - ketralnis 14y ago
    Call me crazy, but I'm going to guess that the sniper suggestion was in jest.
  - JonnieCache 14y ago
    We did that a couple of times with a mains-powered angle grinder and a mini generator. In the middle of the afternoon, in a shopping street. Got some funny looks, I can tell you. Nobody said anything though. Certainly didn't get shot.
  - pbhjpbhj 14y ago
    Colateral damage. It also encourages owners to keep a spare key ... so it's not all bad.

pilsetnieks 14y ago

Although I believe that summary executions are in bad taste, I want to point out that, au contraire, the tax should be levied on car owners (to encourage cycling).

ketralnis 14y ago
Not everyone can choose to bike instead of drive. When my driving commute was an hour longer than it is now, such a tax would not have encouraged me to cycle instead.
- dasil003 14y ago
  Your commute is over an hour? Man, I had a 45 minute commute once for a few months and I vowed never again.
- lmm 14y ago
  There's always a choice. Maybe you'd've taken a different job - or maybe that job would've relocated somewhere more accessible. (I don't believe in "punitive" taxes on cars, but I do think gas should be taxed enough to cover the cost of cleaning up its CO2/other pollution, and the resulting money spent on doing that).

stephencanon 14y ago

You could just tranquilize them and then release them into the wild.

qq66 14y ago

These guys did that -- set up a bait bike and paintballed the guy. I don't condone vigilantism but here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi6XtthI2F0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi6XtthI2F0

cpeterso 14y ago
That video is totally fake and a great way to get shot by real guns.