Rick Pepper of 11 Gear sent me this interesting barometer of how safe a city is. Using hidden cameras and cheap bicycles as bait, Mariano Pasik gauges crime in different neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. His hypothesis: the longer it takes for the bike to be stolen the safer the area is. Pasik now invites others to do the same in their cities to create a worldwide insecurity index.

Whether or not the bicycle test safety scale is adopted on a wider basis, Pasik’s films are entertaining in a sort of “real-world reality show” way. Eventual thieves pass the bikes numerous times, scoping them out, looking for locks or owners. Its pretty clear from the videos that the thieves are not professionals. Most just seem like opportunists rather than hardened criminals. Pasik suggests that they’re deliberating on the act, in a sort of internal conflict between good and bad.

Have a look at lapruebadelabicicleta

This entry was posted on Friday, October 10th, 2008 at 12:24 and is filed under Bike Friendly Cities, Elsewhere in the world..., Statistics and numbers, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.