Classic Bike Crime and Punishment Hack

Reader David sent along a link to a hack that an inventor came up with in 1899 to help deter bicycle theft.  Who knows if locks were in vogue two centuries ago, but this hack leads me to believe that bikes were left out a lot and people were growing frustrated with theft. 

The idea was to engage a needle that would stick up through the seat while the bicycle was not in use.  The following text and picture are both credited to the blog Futility Closet:

Apparently vexed by bicycle thieves, Adolph Neubauer had a bright idea in 1899: Crank needles up through the seat when the bike wasn’t in use “and thus prevent any one from mounting the bicycle without serious injury.”

He got the patent in 1900. Whether it worked is unknown.

I think that this hack would be an impossible deterrent these days because of crafty lawyers.  I am sure if a bike thief stole a bike and got injured, they would sue the owner of the bike damages, even though they broke the law in stealing the bike.  Anyone with a legal background feel free to critique my skepticism.

Comments

[oldboy]

a big potential backfire, if this malfunctioned during a ride.

[Ron Ablang]

It is hard to identify a bike back to its owner so good luck to a thief trying to find someone to sue, but I do agree w/ the original comment. Scary if it backfires.

[Ed L.]

Yep, the bike owner could be held liable if it resulted in serious injury. The classic example taught to all law students is the "spring gun" case - where a frustrated, scared or just plain ornery homeowner sets up a shotgun to a trip wire so that it will shoot someone trying to enter onto his property or into his home. Justification is based on proportionality - you can only use reasonable force to resist a criminal or intruder, and this usually means that you cannot use deadly or excessive force to harm someone's person in order to protect property.

So, stay cynical.

(Now, not talking as a lawyer, but as a bicyclist who has had a bike stolen in the past - I say the seat is 1) not sufficiently a deterrent; 2) more likely to end up backfiring on the owner; and 3) way too easy on the bike thief!!)

[Frankö]

Hmmm. I still think removing the seat entirely is a better solution. Most folk find riding unseated unsettling. YMMV, of course.

[justin bieber shoes]

As in a lot of editing, in the process of winnowing the blog to 30 entries, some good ideas got swept aside, chief among them perhaps bacon (though Alton Brown certainly has that covered), gnocchi (which, fortunately, we do not have to wonder about; it can be done) and pierogi (which have been done at least a couple of times — with enough people it's even a party). I'm certain there are more that I'm missing, some that were part of the poll but didn't finish first and some that didn't make that short list to begin with. If an idea that you were pulling for didn't make it onto the blog, I'm sorry. I try not to disappoint people but sometimes it happens anyway.I can only say that there is one more post after this one. Maybe it will be the one you were hoping to see on this blog.Though I rather doubt it.