You are a rather young man, you have a city bike, which you hang with a simple cable, in the open air, in a big metropolis. What’s more, we are in the early evening, late summer or early fall. Under these conditions, the risk of having your bicycle stolen is greatest. These data come from an investigation into bicycle theft, published on April 6 by the Active Mobility Academy (ADMA)a group of experts attached to the Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB) and that The world was able to consult.
Clément Dusong and Jean-Baptiste Gernet, the authors of the survey, hope that it will promote the practice of cycling. “Theft is the second obstacle, after the lack of travel security”they write, specifying that the last study on the subject dates from 2003. The results are based on 2,800 responses to a questionnaire, enriched with observations in several cities and discussion groups organized with cyclists who have recently suffered a theft. .
Big cities are less safe. The risk is “Three times stronger in Paris than in the rest of France, twice as strong in Amsterdam as elsewhere in the Netherlands, and while flights have fallen by 43% in Denmark between 2010 and 2020, they have not dropped than 25% in Copenhagen”write the authors.
Insufficient protections
European comparisons also show that the countries where the bicycle has been widely developed, in northern Europe, are also the most affected, unlike capitals such as Athens, Rome or Lisbon, which are poorly equipped for journeys by bicycle. To put it another way, thieves show a certain pragmatism: they steal bicycles where it is easy to pedal… recent experience conducted by urban planners at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed that bikes stolen in Amsterdam stayed around and were not shipped overseas, as is sometimes believed.
Users also adapt the protection to the type of place where they attach their bicycle. According to ADMA, U-shaped locks, approved by the FUB, are much more common in Lille, Paris or Lyon, near stations or universities, than in Dijon or Vannes.
However, this protection is insufficient, judging by the number of thefts occurring each year in France. The exact figure remains uncertain. A so-called “Living environment and safety” (CVS) survey, carried out each year by the Ministry of the Interior, puts the number at 320,000. But detailed surveys by the Ministry of Transport, in 2008 and then in 2019, estimate 2% the proportion of households victims of a theft during the previous year, ie approximately 570,000 cases.
Uninsured users
What happens once we have noticed the absence of the bicycle? On average, a quarter of victims file a complaint, according to the CVS survey, more if the theft concerns an electrically assisted bicycle or when it was insured. Only 5% of victims surveyed by ADMA found their bike, but this proportion increased slightly when an identification number was engraved on the frame, an operation that became mandatory for new bikes in 2021.
Theft is a major obstacle to practice. Only 61% of victims repurchase a bicycle, at a lower price, on average, than that of the object which had been stolen from them. On the other hand, users invest more in protection. The proportion of U-shaped locks jumps from 24% to 41% after a theft. Conversely, the simple cable, which 49% of cyclists equipped themselves with before the flight, only convinces 5% afterwards.
To limit the risks, Jean-Baptiste Gernet advises users to surround their practice with a “halo of caution, including a good quality anti-theft device, insurance and, in the event of theft, a complaint”. The market is starting to interest insurers. “Since 2020, we have included all bicycles, regardless of their date of purchase, in our contracts protecting the home, for an average of 15 euros per month”explains Julien Terrier-Duraisin, Deputy Managing Director of BPCE Assurances, a subsidiary of the Banque Populaire and Caisses d’Epargne.
However, only 8.5% of users had taken out specific insurance in 2019, according to the research office 6T Research Office. More prosaically, many users do not know if their bike is covered by their insurance or their bank card. In addition, some contracts are restrictive, not covering theft if it occurs after 10 p.m. or if the purchase is more than four years old. “We deplore about 10% fraud”justifies an insurer.