Thatcham Kick Starts Crackdown on Bike Theft

Thatcham Kick Starts Crackdown on Bike Theft The British insurance industry and the Home Office is to crackdown on a motorcycle crime wave, it was announced today (Wednesday June 18th). Thatcham, the insurer funded research centre, kick-started the scheme aimed at preventing theft and aiding the recovery of stolen motor bikes, at the annual BICSA Awards (British Insurance Car Security Awards), being held at its Berkshire headquarters. New figures show that more than 48,000 motor bikes are stolen each year, (four times the number of cars stolen), and fewer than 50 per cent of them are ever recovered. Even more alarming for motorcyclists is that up to 10 per cent of some models are stolen each year. Now Thatcham has adapted its New Vehicle Security Assessment to incorporate motorcycles. Drawing on the results of the motorcycle New Vehicle Security Assessment (NVSA), which assesses the security levels on all motorcycles up to three years old, the rating will reflect the visual inspection of three main areas - mechanical, electronic and identification. The resulting star rating system will reflect the likelihood of ‘theft of’ a particular motorcycle using Thatcham’s established 1,000 point NVSA system. Mike Briggs, Thatcham’s Vehicle Security Manager said, “Thatcham’s star rating scheme for passenger cars, Heavy Goods Vehicles and Light Commercial Vehicles has proved a great success in providing a consumer facing assessment of a vehicle’s security. Given the current fairly low attention paid to motorcycle security, I know the new motorcycle star rating scheme will be welcomed and will drive improvements in motorcycle security“ Andrew Miller, Thatcham’s Director of Research said, “Thatcham’s worldwide influence in developing and enhancing vehicle security is taking a major step forward with this new initiative. Motorcycles have long been a particularly high theft risk for insurers, and low levels of security equipment have historically caused many problems for owners. Thatcham continues to push new standards for vehicle security, creating real value for consumers and insurers”.

Headlines | News Archive | July 2008 |  Thatcham Kick Starts Crackdown on Bike Theft

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