Overview
Melbourne cyclists, double up on those locks or get yourself one of these. In new stats published by The Age, Melbourne bikes are being stolen at a rate of almost 50 percent higher than cars in some areas. Yikes.
While the stats aren't exactly Amsterdam or New York City levels (closer to San Francisco's numbers), apparently over 5000 bikes have been stolen in Melbourne in the last financial year alone (or about 100 bikes a week). And that's just the reported thefts to Victoria Police — how many times have you just shaken an angry fist at the sky and let it go over a silent brewski?
Obviously, thieves are cottoning on to the fact that some areas are more bike-focused than others — the trendo, fixie-lovin' bits of town. In Victoria, the postcodes where bike thefts are double the amount of car thefts are apparently Fitzroy, Carlton and Parkville/Melbourne Uni, as well as the towns of Sale, Wangaratta and Horsham. So if you're cruising home from work to these areas, bolster that security, bring your beloved inside or get a shittier bike.
Melbourne's CBD isn't much better for bike nabbery; The Age reports almost 1600 bikes have been nicked in the last five years — again, double the amount of cars stolen from central city areas. But the Big Kahuna of Melbourne bike theft? Brunswick (predictably) — the suburb's apparently doubled its bike theft stats in five years. Check out The Age's map for the statewide stats to see if you should be adding padlocks in your suburb.
Must be a strong lock #melburn #bikes #cosbikes
A photo posted by Perry Singleton (@pjsingleton) on Oct 10, 2014 at 4:14pm PDT
Victorian Police are working their butts off to reduce the number of missing bikes, and you can help out — engrave your licence number and take a photo of your bike and beware of council clean-up times (when people rummaging around your front yard with bolt cutters doesn't look suspicious to passers-by). Looks like the makers of the 'unstealable' bike have a Melbourne market on their hands.
Via The Age.
Image: rogerwshaw via photopin cc.