Bogotá's Bicycle Cemetery

Thousands of bicycles rust away. (Photo: ADN)

Thousands of bicycles, confisticated by police because of involvement in accidents or for some traffic offense, are piled up rusting away in the patios of Alamo. Most have been there for more than five years.

And they keep arriving - at the rate of three to five per day.

Why don't the owners retrieve them? There's lots of red tape, ADN reports. Perhaps they lack proof of ownership? Also, patios charges for the bikes's storage - almost 5,000 pesos for the first day, and then decreasing to only 100 pesos a day after a month passes. Eventually, the charges can be more than the value of a cheap bike. The bikes involved in accidents are held as potential legal evidence - altho it's difficult to see their court value, especially after suffering for months or years in the wind, rain and son.

In any case, it's a real tragedy.

Why not issue some decree to sell or give away the bikes after some waiting period, while they're still usable?

It's also worth asking why all those cars and buses which routinely break traffic and environmental laws never seem to get confisticated by the authorities.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours