New Bay to Breakers Safety Plan Doesn't Impress Security Expert

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, new rules for security have been put into place by the annual Bay to Breakers footrace in San Francisco.

But the new rules -- such as a ban on backpacks from the race course -- don't impress everybody. Specifically, they don't impress security experts, according to SF Weekly.

Organizers of the Craigslist Bay to Breakers race have banned backpacks and containers over a certain size, according to the newspaper -- and that's "really stupid," an expert said.

Unregistered runners will be removed from the course, organizers said Monday. Any bag or container larger than 8 1/2 by 11 by 4 inches will also be banned.

Bombs in backpacks exploded at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, killing four people and wounding more than 260.

Security expert Bruce Schneier said the rules are "arbitrary" and part of "security theater" -- rules meant to make people feel better that don't make people safer.

Bombs can be put into containers smaller than backpacks, and there would be nothing stopping a bomber with a backpack bomb from approaching the race course.

And an outright ban on people without proper-sized packs is impossible, Schneier pointed out. "But they can make life miserable for some of them,” he said.