3 ms·

i had a similar experience recently, watched 2 guys stealing a bike, while one of them held the cable lock the other cut it with sire cutters, all the while ass

i had a similar experience recently, watched 2 guys stealing a bike, while one of them held the cable lock the other cut it with sire cutters, all the while assuring his mate that no-one would get involved. They were metres from a busy bus stop, it was 5pm in a major UK city so it was well populated area and well lit. I didnt have time to get my camera out to photograph them as they had cut the cable, so without really thinking I just gave chase (i was on my bike). My non-thinking caught up with me pretty quickly when i was next to him and thought "What now?" so I just pushed him off the bike, he fell, got up and ran off leaving the stolen bike behind. Amazingly someone who saw this incident then asked if I was stealing the bike. But yeah the bystander effect seems to be a 'not my business' type of stance that people take, and it makes them worse people and their community a worse community because of it. I sometimes wonder if these people ever think "why is no one helping me" when something happens to them? If they do I bet they never draw the parallel to their own inaction on previous occassions.

tarpherder 11y ago
In the type of situation you describe I'm very tempted to take action, but I'm afraid of nobody backing me up if I get into trouble, especially if I know some people are aware of the theft and were just going to let it slide.
- calbear81 11y ago
  We are in San Francisco and there are KNOWN bike chop shops operating in plain sight and apparently the police cannot do anything unless the owner finds the chop shop, finds their bike, and it's been registered to that person. My mates and I were just talking about organizing some type of immediate action network via a twitter hashtag such as "#takedownbikethieves" with a photo and bikers in the area can all amass and collectively liberate stolen bikes. Think of it as social activism and less vigilante justice.

tarpherder 11y ago

In the type of situation you describe I'm very tempted to take action, but I'm afraid of nobody backing me up if I get into trouble, especially if I know some people are aware of the theft and were just going to let it slide.

calbear81 11y ago
We are in San Francisco and there are KNOWN bike chop shops operating in plain sight and apparently the police cannot do anything unless the owner finds the chop shop, finds their bike, and it's been registered to that person. My mates and I were just talking about organizing some type of immediate action network via a twitter hashtag such as "#takedownbikethieves" with a photo and bikers in the area can all amass and collectively liberate stolen bikes. Think of it as social activism and less vigilante justice.