Bike thefts: the French scourge

With 400,000 reported bike thefts each year, France ranks third in Europe for the number of reported thefts relative to the number of bikes in circulation in the country.

Strange coincidence: the anagram of “bike” is “stolen.” A statistic that is hardly reliable: with approximately 400,000 “official” bike thefts in 2022, France holds its place among the top three in Europe for the number of burglaries reported in relation to the number of cycles (21 million). By “official,” we mean bikes that have had a complaint filed with the Police or Gendarmerie. According to a recent study published by the Active Mobility Academy (ADMA), only 65% of victims would have taken this step, which gives a more realistic picture of the problem in France: the true number of thefts could be around 600,000 annually. That’s about 68 bike thefts per hour, more than one per minute.

Organ Banks

One can take comfort in the fact that the Netherlands, the paradise of the Little Queen, reports 900,000 thefts for 15 million cycles, or that the United Kingdom is not far behind with 686,000 thefts for 22 million bikes. In other words, 6% of the Dutch bike fleet is stolen each year, compared to 2% in France.

The increase in bike thefts in France is linked to a cause-and-effect relationship: as cycling becomes more popular (due to the abandonment of cars or public transportation following the Covid-19 pandemic), thefts naturally rise to meet the demand… not everyone can afford to buy a new or used bike. Another statistic, unfortunately non-existent, is the explosion of dismemberment of two-wheelers, often so they can be used as organ banks, sometimes due to the difficulty of carrying them off in one piece.

Office Parking

According to the ADMA study, only 6% of bike owners who filed a complaint have recovered their bicycle… and only 64% have purchased a new cycle. This means that 36% have given up cycling altogether, fearing another costly theft. This is a significant obstacle to the growth of cycling in France, at a time when policies aim to get French people out of car seats…

43% of thefts occur during the day, 26% at night, and 20% in the evening. In 30% of cases, bikes were in enclosed spaces (courtyard or garage). That’s why workplaces are seeing an increase in bike storage facilities, as employees no longer want to leave their bikes on the street without supervision during working hours. Parking costs can be high, especially considering the price per square meter in Paris, for example.

The conclusion from this study is that nothing can prevent a bike from being stolen or damaged. All a owner can do is increase protections to make it more difficult for thieves to target an easy prey…

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