Hacker News Reader

Comment by dsfyu404ed | Hacker News Reader

$30k in cash is not the same as a $30k car. A $30k car that's been stolen is not worth $30k, then there's liquidity, risk and a bunch of other things. Having your car parked outside is not at all like having a box containing $30k outside your house.

View on HN

I have to worry about a $1,000 bicycle. For some reason it's just socially accepted that this will happen to a $1,000 bicycle. But park a car worth an order of magnitude, and the level of worry actually goes down. That's the bit that throws me for a loop.

I'm not trying to argue that anyone should live in fear. Just that assumptions of state-sponsored action severely overestimate which ballpark this lives in. This is more complex than an opportunistic thief, but well within career criminal - and probably well below "steal to order".

That's because most of us recognize that 20 seconds with angle grinder will make that $1,000 bicycle disappear. 20 minutes at a stolen bike dealer - which are everywhere - will turn it into $50.

20 seconds with an angle grinder will not make a $30,000 car disappear. Selling it on the black market is also a much bigger pain in the ass, then selling a stolen bicycle.

People leave $300,000 dollar homes unattended all the time - protected by nothing more then a flimsy lock, and a few panes of glass. Yet, most of the time, people don't worry about someone stealing their house.

A bicycle is also often more than an order of magnitude easier to steal; you can't just pick up a car, and a bolt cutter won't cut it even for a car worth $5,000.

well then is it closer to having a box with $15k? $10k? $5k? In all these situations, the incentive is still there.

Probably $3-6k but with the associated risks and punishments of a $30k crime, and much more if you happen to have a firearm on you while committing it.

This is Europe, nobody stealing a car is carrying a gun.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com