Did the eyes really stare down bicycle crime in Newcastle?
Tom Stafford's column examines the Newcastle bicycle-stealing study and asks whether the eyes caused the drop in thefts. He raises four concerns: there was no control sign carrying the message without the eyes, the effect was local and thefts rose at nearby unsigned spots, a thief warned that some bikes are watched could rationally choose an unwatched rack, and security-minded owners may have chosen the signed racks. The column is commentary and not a study, and it does not show the signs failed, only that the design cannot show they worked through the eyes.
Tom Stafford's column examines the Newcastle bicycle-stealing study and asks whether the eyes caused the drop in thefts. He raises four concerns: there was no control sign carrying the message without the eyes, the effect was local and thefts rose at nearby unsigned spots, a thief warned that some bikes are watched could rationally choose an unwatched rack, and security-minded owners may have chosen the signed racks. The column is commentary and not a study, and it does not show the signs failed, only that the design cannot show they worked through the eyes.
Written from the column itself, Mind Hacks.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
16 May 2013. https://mindhacks.com/2013/05/16/did-the-eyes-really-stare-down-bicycle-crime-in-newcastle/