Salzburg: the capital of bicycle theft – salzburg.ORF.at
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With almost 200 kilometers of cycle paths, Salzburg is considered the bicycle capital of Austria, but at the same time it is also the capital of bicycle theft. According to the Ministry of the Interior, no other city had more bicycles stolen than Salzburg in relation to the number of inhabitants.
The majority of bicycle thefts in Austria are committed in provincial capitals. In absolute figures, Vienna is in the lead, followed by Graz (Styria) and Salzburg. Converted to the number of inhabitants, however, by far the most bicycles are stolen in the city of Salzburg, around 60 pieces per 10,000 inhabitants and year. Far behind are Innsbruck (Tyrol) and Vienna.
Nine out of ten bicycle thefts go unsolved
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the total number of bicycle thefts will decrease in the long term. Since the turn of the millennium, reported offenses have fallen by half: from 2,700 to just around 1,400 most recently. There is also a strong urban/rural divide within the state of Salzburg: very few bicycles were stolen in the Lungau. However, once a bike has been stolen, it usually stays gone: The clear-up rate here is low at less than ten percent. In more than 90 percent of cases, the bike thieves cannot be traced.