Filed under: bicycling, bike security, bike transportation, commute biking | Tags: nasty drivers
The other day I was in the outside of two turn lane. My lane allowed for both left turn and straight ahead and the lane next to me allowed only for left turn. I was turning left and noticed a crappy old compact in the lane to my left headed straight toward me. This beater had a large, homemade wood sign on the roof that stated something like this: “Is Your Body a Coffin? Go Veg!” Well, this guy just kept motoring forward, straight ahead without turning. I used my voice to notify him that I was there and that he was making a dangerous and illegal move: “he, he, he!” I shouted none too loud (his windows were down and we were close, too close). His response: a string of nasty obscenities as he powered his way forward, forcing me to brake and cut back (exposing me to danger from the turning cars behind me) and then the finger to boot! Man, I thought, this guy should try eating red meat! Perhaps it will curb his aggression!
Filed under: bicycling, bike security, bike transportation, commute biking
I just read this in a New York Times article about campus bike programs (10/21/2008):
“Students can wave their ID card over a docking port. The port is attached to a rubber tube, which can be used as a lock and opened by entering an access code. Students must enter the bike’s condition before it can be unlocked. The system is used in Europe, but with credit cards.
The first 15 minutes are free, and users pay 60 cents for each additional 15 minutes, or $2.40 per hour. All 925 resident students automatically become members through their ID cards. The system was intended to be environmentally friendly, with solar panels powering the ports.
A tracking system similar to G.P.S. will keep tabs on the bikes.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/education/20bikes.html?pagewanted=1)
So, bicycle tracking systems similar to GPS do indeed exist.
Filed under: bicycling, bike security, bike transportation, commute biking | Tags: anti-theft device for bicycles
I recently signed up for a free service that uses the wireless card on my laptop to monitor the laptop’s location. The service is free and totally password-protected: only I can find out the location of the laptop. Not even the service provider has access to this information. If the laptop is stolen, I simply put in a request to track it, input my password and get the information.
Is there any way to develop something like this for bicycles? I know that in Brazil, where car theft is epidemic, many car owners choose to have satellite tracking systems as an added feature in their cars. In fact, at one point the legislature was seriously considering mandating this on all new cars (probably as part of some elaborate kickback scheme that politicians rigged). What would something like the laptop wireless tracking system have to look like for a bicycle? Perhaps it could be an innocent little bike computer attached to the handlebar… only with a tiny gps unit or wireless card that sends out a signal occasionally that is then logged in a database that can be accessed if the bike is stolen. Could that work?
