Motorcycle Crime in London : Call to action!

A motorcycle or Scooter is one of the best ways of getting around a big city like London. 55,000 people ride into the city every day and there are around 130,000 people with a registered powered two-wheeler in the city. For some people like me that's a lifestyle choice but for other people it really is the only option, the only practical, affordable, quick way of getting around a really complex city where quite often a tube journey or bus journey won't cut it, and you can't walk and it's too far to cycle. This freedom of choice is genuinely under threat and motorcycling may become a thing of the past even sooner than we suspect. Does that sound a bit dramatic? Well, it's not, and if you want to find out why please pay attention for a few more minutes because there's a lot going on, and if we don't do something about it now we can pretty soon kiss goodbye to motorcycling.

Unbelievably over 50 motorcycles are stolen in London every single day. Think about that, out of 130,000 registered motorcycles we can expect almost 20,000 of those bikes will get stolen this year. So why is that happening? But also why does it affect all of us? It's happening for two reasons, firstly motorcycle theft is not seen as a priority by the police or the authorities. Along with the public, they see this as a victimless crime because we're all insured right? So the insurance is going to take care of it. The second big reason is that criminals know there are absolutely no consequences for their crimes. Unless they're really unlucky they're not going to get caught, in fact, they're not even going to get chased. As you'll see on YouTube most bike thieves fell completely comfortable stealing bikes in broad daylight. They know the public are mostly too afraid to intervene and the Police are too busy. They also know that if they are challenged the Police won't give chase. That's not a matter of training or even a matter of permission it's that the Police know, that if a member of the public is injured during a police chase they won't be backed up by the authorities, they won't be backed up by their bosses, they won't be backed up by the Mayor's office and in fact the public won't back them up either.

They have to decide, every time it's time to chase someone on a moped or a scooter whether or not it's worth their job and whether it's worth their pension. Sadiq Khan thinks it's our fault if our motorcycles get stolen if we don't secure them properly. According to him we and the manufacturers have to take full responsibility for the additional cost of security, and for making our bikes safe. But if this isn't bad enough the outcome is that it's creating a crime wave, and a street culture of thuggery and violence. Because many of us do secure our bikes properly thieves have changed their tactics. So instead of stealing our bikes, they're actually hijacking them from the streets. They do this with extreme violence using weapons, machetes, and even now acid. As we know the bikes they steal are then used for more crimes, for snatching handbags, mobile phones, wallets, purses and they know the police won't give chase. This crime pays, we've actually created a right of passage for young would-be gang members.

If you're a young teenager and you want to impress the older kids, we've actually given them a way to enjoy being chased by the Police, and commit crimes. Knowing that there is absolutely no outcome. It's the perfect way for them to initiate themselves into bigger and worse crimes. This is bonkers, we need a wake-up call. Handing our streets over to thugs and criminals is much too high a price to pay for the limited risk to the public that comes from a Police chase. In other countries, if you're a fleeing criminal you are held completely liable and responsible for your actions and any outcomes that happen in a Police chase. It should be the same here, so why is this an even bigger problem than it looks? Because even if you're not a direct victim of a bike theft or a moped enabled crime there are repercussions that will affect all of us that ride a motorcycle.

Insuring motorcycles and scooters in London is now a loss-making business for the underwriters. We can expect around 18,000 to 20,000 motorcycles to be stolen in London this year. Well, who pays for that? The underwriters do and what that really means is that they're losing money. As a result, the insurance companies are pulling out of London. Have you had your renewal this year? This is getting worse and worse I know of people who come here who cannot get bike insurance. This is happening right now. If this continues as it is riding a decent motorcycle in London is going to become a thing of the past, or maybe affordable only to the affluent minority.

So what's the solution? Well, it's not rocket science. We need a zero-tolerance approach to motorcycle crime in London, and we need to make sure that criminals are caught, pursued, and they have decent sentences handed out to them when they commit these crimes. It's not just about us, it's not just about motorcycle riders, it's also about the general public who are the victims of crime enabled by stolen mopeds and stolen bikes. But on top of that we are all as a society giving our streets up to thugs and thug violence, that's unacceptable and it has to stop.

And by the way, if you don't live in London, guess what's coming to a town near you any day now... So what can we do about it, well we can't do anything? If you value your freedom to ride a motorcycle you have to stand up and make your voice heard. Behind the scenes, We Ride London can do it's best to lobby transport authorities, speak to MPs, speak to dealers and insurers. But it's up to us in the foreground to make sure we get out on the streets and make our opinions known.