Bike Security

Bike thefts have been slashed at Newcastle University simply by putting pictures of staring eyes above cycle racks.

The two-year experiment was carried out by a security manager at the campus who had seen similar studies suggest that people behave better when they feel they are being watched. This is a common crime especially around universities with bikes being one of the top modes of transport.  More and more reports were coming through about bikes being stolen so something had to be done. After researching and looking into what could be done, one of the ideas was to put the watching eyes above the cycle racks, this is to make the thief feel as if they are being watched and that there may be security cameras around which will catch them out.

The university noticed a huge difference after doing this. Academics found that bike racks which had eyes placed above them experienced 62 percent fewer thefts than the previous year, while those without eyes saw thefts increase by 63 percent. This goes to show that when people feel as if they are being watched it stops them in there tracks and makes them realise that this could cause them problems. This idea could help universities all over, just to prevent the crime and lower the rates.