Ever more Tervurenaars have been buying these expensive e-bikes, simply to get themselves to work or kids to school. With bike theft a continuing plague, Tervuren is now handing out free stickers with a QR code. But can a sticker really combat bike theft?
All Tervurenaars need to do is call by the reception at De Zevenster or the police office. Town hall claims the new federal Mybike QR-code sticker cuts the chances of your bike being stolen and resold, and you can recover your bike faster if or when stolen through mybike.belgium.be.
Exact figures for bike theft in Tervuren are difficult to come by, with insured and more expensive bikes most likely to be reported. Last year, police registered only 50 cases of bike theft in Tervuren, lower than the peak year of 2021 when 65 bikes were reported stolen. But that does not mean fewer bikes were stolen — possibly, the willingness to report theft fell given the slim chances of recovering a bike.
Police statistics indicate that May and June are traditionally the worst months for bike theft in Tervuren. And the colder months of the year are better for keeping on to your bike. Still, July is an exceptionally quiet moment with thieves possibly enjoying well-deserved summer repose.
Fietsersbond Tervuren is pushing town hall and the police to shit up a gear towards an “active” policy against bike theft. “The police must not leave theft complaints without consequence and must properly and effectively use available resources for investigation,” Tervuren’s cyclist association says in its 2024 electoral memorandum. The municipality and police must also do everything to encourage cyclists to have their bikes labeled and registered via MyBike, according to the cyclists.
The Mybike sticker features a unique identification number and a QR code. This allows anyone to easily check in real time if a bike is reported stolen by scanning the QR code on the sticker or entering the unique identification number on mybike.belgium.be.
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