Elders of Planet Sindh have come up with a wizard wheeze to cut back on motorcycle theft
The Elders of Planet Sindh, a world disconnected from anything recognisable as the reality experienced by the rest of the country, have come up with a wizard wheeze to cut back on motorcycle theft. On the face of it the idea is not so bad — install tracking devices and then if your motorcycle is stolen it will be easily located and the thieves nabbed. Except perhaps not. Motorcycles are poor people’s transport. They are also very desirable for the thieves that can make a quick profit by selling stolen items. With around 3.5 million registered motorcycles in Karachi and another 25,000 added monthly it is a thieves’ paradise. Theft detection rates are low despite there being a dedicated force tasked with the recovery of stolen bikes and there is clearly a major problem — but trackers are not the solution. For poor and middle class owners of motorcycles affording the Rs6,500 to purchase the tracker and then the Rs1,500 a month subscription to keep it running is beyond their means. Secondly, trackers run off the bike batteries but 90 per cent reportedly operate without. Even if the bike owners did install batteries their life is relatively short and they would need replacement after four months.
Given the volume of bikes on the road this proposal is no more likely to be a success than was the campaign to persuade people to wear helmets, but also the number registration plate campaign that also fell by the wayside quickly. This is not to say that trackers are not helpful in tracing stolen bikes because they are. The concept is not flawed but the thinking that would have to underpin implementation — is. There is more mileage in persuading owners that multiple locking devices and other forms of disabling of their bikes electronically is going to at least deter some thefts. Wealthier owners can of course afford the trackers, but mass implementation of the proposal is years away. Think again.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 20th, 2018.
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