Bike theft in Italy costs every year EUR 150m in missed revenues, according to the national bike manufacturers association (Photo by adriaanverstijnen/Flickr)

Last year in Italy the number of stolen bikes reached 320,000 and the fear of having their bike pinched ranks second among the causes preventing Italians from choosing cycling as a means of commuting, coming just after that of getting run over by motorized vehicles. These are some of the findings of a survey conducted in 2013 by FIAB, Italy’s ECF-affiliated cycling lobby group, the results of which have been presented last week.

Following the surge in the popularity of bicycle commuting in Italy (see ECF’s October Member of the Month feature), FIAB organized a conference on bike theft for the 65^th anniversary of the film Bicycle Thieves (Italian: Ladri di Biciclette), one of the masterpieces of Italian neorealist cinema.

"Ladri di Biciclette" - better to keep them in the movies.

Among the data (mostly national) presented, it is interesting to note that the number of bicycles stolen accounts for 8% of the 4m bicycles currently circulating in the country.

Raising awareness on the issue was one of the objectives of FIAB – an objective that has certainly been accomplished. The aim is to have municipalities adopt plans to deter bike theft. Some solutions FIAB came up with in the conference included:

• Campaigning to convince people having suffered a bike theft to always report it to the police;
• Engraving the owner’s tax payer number on the bike frame (see France’s Bicycode);
• Conducting bike censuses;
• Lobbying municipalities to obtain bike-friendly measures for condominiums;
• Improving bike-parking infrastructure.

FIAB and ANCMA (the national association for bike and motorcycle industry) quantified the losses for the industry as 150m Euros of missed revenue, not to mention the fact that cyclists concerned with high bike theft rates are more likely to buy cheaper and lower quality bicycles. The sale of stolen bikes negatively affects the legal bicycle industry: another reason why bike industry players should support cycling NGOs and their anti-theft efforts.

Click here to download the summary of the conference (in Italian).

 About the author

Alessio Punzi is Communications Assistant at the European Cyclists’ Federation. He holds a Master’s Degree in Sports Management and has previously worked in Rome for a sports events firm.