April 24, 2024 at 6:00 am
Social
Last year, 8,400 bicycle thefts were reported in Gelderland. This is 3.3% higher than the year before and even 29% higher than pre-corona year 2019. Nijmegen in particular turned out to be unsafe to park your bicycle. The most bicycle thefts in all of Gelderland were reported in this municipality, namely 21.6 bicycle thefts per 1,000 households. This is evident from research by Independer based on data from the police and CBS. For the municipalities of Nunspeet, Elburg and Oldebroek the figures are 5.3 / 4.1 and 3.1 respectively.
The top 5 Gelderland municipalities with the most incidents in 2023 are as follows: Nijmegen: 2,145 reports of bicycle theft, Arnhem: 1,120 reports of bicycle theft, Apeldoorn: 655 reports of bicycle theft, Ede: 630 reports of bicycle theft and Zutphen: 370 reports of bicycle theft. In Rozendaal, the number of stolen bicycles was the lowest in 2023: bicycle theft was reported here five times.
“The number of bicycle thefts is probably even higher, because not everyone reports it. With electric bicycles, it is mandatory to report the theft to the police if you want to claim insurance reimbursement. The number of electric bicycles has increased and this can also explain part of the increase in declarations,” says Michel Ypma, home insurance expert at Independer.
The number of bicycle thefts was slightly higher last year than in 2022 (+3.3%). Compared to the pre-corona year, the increase is much stronger (+29%). There are, however, major local differences.
For example, the strongest increase was in Bronckhorst. There were forty bicycle thefts here last year. That was twice as many as in 2022. Many more bicycles were also stolen in Lingewaard (+83.3%) and Berg en Dal (+81.8) in 2023 than a year earlier.
The number of bicycle thefts did not increase everywhere in Gelderland: there was a decrease in 16 municipalities, including Nijmegen, Ede and Tiel. In Lochem the number of registered incidents decreased the most (-33.3%).
“Keep in mind that there are certain conditions if your bicycle is stolen from the backyard or, for example, the shed. For example, the shed must be properly locked and the bicycle must be locked in both the garden and the shed,” warns home insurance expert Michel Ypma.
The police give tips to prevent bicycle theft:
Write down as many characteristics of your bicycle as possible on a bicycle registration card. Have a theft prevention chip installed on or on the bicycle. This is a small bar or circle with data. The chip can be read with a reading device. It is not possible to have a bicycle tracked via satellite. Use a storage facility. Do not leave your bicycle in an unlit place in the evening or at night. Do not leave valuables in bicycle bags. Make sure you have a good lock on the door of your shed or storage room.
To find out more about the number of stolen bicycles in the province of Gelderland, visit independer.nl/woonverzekering/info/onderzoek/fietsen theft-2023
