[xqyf]

Car theft is more common where cars are more common

[an9n]

Well tbh I would never leave a bike locked up in any kind of busy public place in the UK and expect it to be there when I got back either. But otoh I don't think bike theft has been turned into quite such a readily available service here!

[dazc]

I actually witnessed someone stealing a bike in the UK, followed them home and phoned the police. Guess what happened next - yes exactly, nothing.

[tonyedgecombe]

I saw someone stealing a bike in Oxford once. There were two policemen just 50 yards away. They did eventually come over to find out why I was shouting at the guy to stop stealing the bike.

[an9n]

Punish the law-abiding - a pretty well known and used policy in the UK (sadly).

[Hamuko]

I've never lived somewhere where cars weren't the most common method of transportation and I've only heard about bikes being stolen. Probably because it's just so much harder to steal a car whereas you can feasibly just carry a bicycle on your back.

[tonyedgecombe]

There used to be a lot of casual car theft in the UK. Teenagers would steal the car and go off joyriding.

That has largely stopped as the cars have become more secure.

[xqyf]

That's why it's bad to rely on anecdotes. Car theft is up in 2019 and 2020 in the US https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-auto-the...