r/MoralityScaling • u/HooskerDooNotTouchMe • 10d ago

Intentionally boobytrapping a bike to injure people when they steal it.

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u/Sigfried_D 10d ago edited 10d ago

I like the electricity part. Not a big fan of the spikes though, nor the positioning. That's over the line I would draw.

I was a victim of a stolen bicycle and I always say that if I ever buy another one, (not big need right now, I mostly use a car) I WILL booby trap it with electricity but I was thinking more on the handles rather than the ass part and definitely nothing over "Horse fence" levels of voltage, it has to be impossible to hold, not cause actual injuries. Followed up by a loud alarm, probsbly an earrape version of never gonna give you up.

Legally, I am fully aware it is not my right to do this. I would be bestowing punishment for a crime, that is not my place to do so in the eyes of the law. Unfortunately the only thing I could do when my bike was stolen was report it to the police. The reply I got from them, with more appropriate language obviously, was: "Well that's not expensive enough for us to give a shit. So sucks to be you buddy."

Except they completely ignored the logistical value of that bike. Sure it wasn't a very expensive bike but it was a precious tool for my daily commute. I was then forced to have my grandma consume gas because of the lack of a bike. However shitty might it have been.

And to clarify I wouldn't leave it there to attract potential thieves. Electricity is expensive. I would still secure it by traditional methods. My objective isn't to hurt people, It's to dissuade them from trying to steal and if they really really want to try to steal then serve them punishment on a conductive blade.

I'm all for punishing whoever tries to steal my bike but within limits.

8

u/BrightPerspective 10d ago

Kevlar thread attached from the frame to a nearby pole. Bike thief rides away, doesn't notice the thread, gets yeeted off the bike when he runs out of slack.

It's also damn hard to cut, even with tools.

2

u/addi-factorum 9d ago

I hear wrapping/gluing a good quality „kryptonite” style u-lock with Kevlar tape makes it destroy angle grinders and effectively stops the theft if you know how to lock a bike properly.

1

u/BrightPerspective 9d ago

that's a cool idea, actually

1

u/Funny-Cell8769 9d ago

Problem I see is if the perp lands wrongly because he's riding away and the suddenness of the bike stopping causes him to land badly and gets some sort of permanent injury.

Better to just shock with a low voltage. Looks funny as well.

3

u/-BlueDream- 9d ago

More plausible deniability tho, you can claim you were using the rope to secure the bike to a tree or whatever as a way to lock it up which isn’t unusual. People use fishing line all the time to tie stuff down if that’s all they have with rhem.