Comments on: Is This Your Bike? What Happens if it is not Claimed?

By: Ham Handed

Ham Handed — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 21:22:28 +0000

Yes! One time I had a buddy who rode his bike to work one morning, got a cab home and just left the bike outside of his office for like 3 months. He saw it daily and just never rode it home. He is lazy. He didn’t know it was illegal b/c it was on a designated bike rack. One day it is gone and it pisses him off, big time. He puts out a search call-to-action among friends and about 3 weeks later someone sees it near Union Station. He waits outside and a kid finally comes to get the bike. He confronts the kid and causes a huge commotion. Threatens the kid and cops get involved, etc. Turns out the poor kid had gotten the bike through his rec center and was using to to do some kind of community service. Anyway, he lost his bike fair and square and the kid got to keep it. Fair? Not sure, but I thought it was hilarious.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 20:48:07 +0000

If it sits there long enough unclaimed, it’s fair game. And everybody knows exactly where this bike is located now. I bet it’s already gone.

By: Anon

Anon — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 17:21:28 +0000

So your friends reappropriate stuff that’s not theirs and take it for their own use?

You could always just call 311 and report it and let the city take care of it. See DCMR 1210.1.

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 17:14:33 +0000

Are you 100% certain those were tears running down your legs?

By: moi

moi — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:49:44 +0000

they should donate it to phoenix bikes in arlington. I go there for used parts/bikes and what they can’t use from donations, they have a metal recycling program.

By: Anon

Anon — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:33:39 +0000

Call 311 or go to 311 online and put it into the system as abandoned. City does the rest.

By: BCinDC

BCinDC — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:10:21 +0000

andy2, this made me laugh so hard I had tears run down my leg.

By: HookdnTX

HookdnTX — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:45:47 +0000

According to DC Rules: 1210 REMOVAL OF BICYCLES FROM PUBLIC SPACE

1210.1 Any bicycle left unused in public space for more than thirty (30) days shall be considered abandoned. The Director may remove an abandoned bicycle after placing notice on the bicycle for a period of at least ten (10) days. The Director shall attempt to identify and contact the owner of a registered bicycle prior to removing it from public space.

1210.2 Bicycles removed from public space that are in working order may be auctioned off to the highest bidder or given free-of-charge to minors as part of a bicycle recreation, safety, or responsibility program. Bicycles that are not in working order may be disposed of as solid waste.

—I believe that the director refers to munciple services

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:37:25 +0000

seriously, if it’s really been there for months it would at least be stripped down to the frame. Back at my old college town they used to have bike auctions run by the city or police dpt. maybe that’s what they do with abandoned bikes – just auction them off.

By: lcinedgewood

lcinedgewood — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:36:51 +0000

There are responsible bike enthusiasts that take note of these abandoned bikes. They are friends of mine. If the bike is obviously left for dead and just beginning to get picked for pieces and rotting, they cut the lock with boltcutters and salvage the frame. With the random parts from the found bikes they build up a few usable ones and give them to folks looking for a bike to ride…Some people have a problem with it. It seems like a win-win to me.