Moped-enabled crime

Is there anything you can do to fend against acid attacks that isn't stupid?

• wear a motorbike/full-face MTB helmet
  
• wear sunglasses
  
  

I'm not concerned - they don't seem to happen up here in Scotland - just wondering if anyone's taken precautionary measures yet

My plan is wear fuck off ridiculous “Pro” looking cycling glasses and always carry a bottle of water. More than that I’m not sure what you can do

I guess glasses are required for the moment. A bit of scarring isn't so bad in the grand scheme I guess (not to minimise the suffering of the victims) but if you get blinded over a few hundred pounds worth of bike, that's fucked.

I always presumed those guys vids were completely setup/scripted.

This thread is horrifying to read. Makes me anxious about riding in London when I come back for work.

If someone is stealing your bike will they allow you time to take the water bottle out of its cage?

“Excuse me young ruffian. I understand you think nothing of blinding and scarring me for life to enable you to steal my bicycle but can I make a call upon your good nature and keep my bottle of water?”

Probably not but I’d definitely rather take the chance to have it with me and possibly not be able to use it but maybe can, than not have it at all

Does anyone know what are the figures on this?

Is the use of acid wide spread enough that we all need to now carry water and wear glasses.

I knew it had happened a couple of times but thought it was still relatively isolated?

It’s not isolated. A couple thousand attacks a year involving corrosives I thought. I’ll try and dig out the figures

No my bad, not that many thank god.
352 recorded in 2016. Source: BBC

@edmundro article further up the page has figures.

Any body seen any of the new lightweight motorcycles that the police have apparently bought. They are supposed to better handling and narrower then the current fleet and specifically ordered to combat moped crime.
As yet I have seen none on the road.

Is that figure robberies or acid attacks in general?

The figure of 352 is only acid crimes against males, not the total.

The publicity shot they showed of them displayed a grand total of TWO scrambler bikes.

TWO!

Yeah maybe they got more but you'd think they'd show off the entire fleet if that was the case.

It's in the report I put a link to.

FOUR!!!

Seems kinda mad, a gang of 10+ on mopeds they might just go for them and steal the police bikes.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/scotland-yard-unveil-new-tactics-in-crackdown-on-moped-gangs-including-new-scrambler-bikes-to-chase-a3672366.html

She also urged London’s communities to “mobilise” and “channel their outrage” against the moped thugs to make the streets safer.

Sooo.... did she just encourage vigilantism? If so I’m mildly impressed. Although, with 1/3 budget gone I guess we need to do our own policing now.

@PhilDAS cheers, just didn’t want it to be small amount followed by mass media speculation.

Has definitely made me more wary in lots of situations. Better safe than sorry eh

Repeating myself but, the police never did anything before either.

Are these attacks, when they're aimed at cyclists, aimed at nicking bikes, panniers, or both? Is there an argument for switching to a rucksack on the basis that these scrotes seem to adopt a grab-and-run approach, rather than actually tangling with the individual?

Again its one of those things that comes down to "maybe".
If you've got all your stuff in a pannier and your bike gets nicked, all your stuff is going too. If you have a rucksack and your bike gets nicked, you might end up keeping your valuables if they grab the bike and do one.

My strategy is to look slow and poor.

It's working so far.

Yeah, I get the impression that there's quite a random element here, but snatching of phones from people who are holding them while texting seems more common than actually assaulting someone and demanding their phone. Likewise, nicking the bike + pannier minimises their actual contact with the person and the time they have to hang around. As such, keeping valuables about your person seems like a good move.

Also, it almost seems like having a lock that can quickly immobilise a bike to stop it being ridden away might improve your chances. I know that the Abus wheel locks are sprung-to-open so that there's no chance of them accidentally deploying into your rear wheel while you're moving, but if you could get one that can easily be shut it might be helpful.

Have I missed something and there have been pannier snatches again? I thought it was all about phones, wallets, and bikes these days.

phones, wallets, and bikes these days.

Exactly, if your panniers are on your bike, they're going too