MyBike with unique QR code goes nationwide to combat bike theft
From today, anyone in Belgium can register a bicycle in the national MyBike database. It’s a government initiative to help in the fight against bicycle theft and is being launched on occasion of the first National Week of Action against Bicycle Theft. Thanks to a sticker with a personal QR code that you stick on your bicycle, the police can find out more quickly whether a bicycle is stolen or not. In Brussels, the system has existed for several years, but now it is also being rolled out in Flanders and Wallonia.
Because many people do not report bicycle theft, we do not know exactly how many bikes are stolen across Belgium. Some 30,000 reports of bicycle theft are made annually, but traffic safety institute Vias assumes that less than half of all the victims of bicycle theft bother to report it to the police.
To tackle the problem of bicycle theft, the government is rolling out the system that already exists in Brussels to the entire country this week: the MyBike system. "Every Belgian will have access to a simple and modern system that deters thieves and makes it easier for the police and others to identify a stolen bike," says Belgian mobility minister Georges Gilkinet (Francophone green/Ecolo).
"This ensures that processing reports of bicycle thefts can be simplified, both for the public at large and for the police services," adds interior minister Annelies Verlinden (Flemish Christian democrat/CD&V).
How does MyBike work?
You can register your bike(s) via the website mybike.belgium.be. "Anyone living in Flanders can then request a sticker with a QR code on it from the Flemish government. You then get that sticker delivered to your home and stick it on your bike," explains Wies Callens of the Fietsersbond, the Cyclists Association.
Users can use the website to store all the details of their bicycle(s) and also report theft. When the police find an abandoned bike, the officer can scan the QR code and find out very quickly whether the bike is registered as stolen.
The QR code also offers advantages when buying a used bicycle. A potential buyer can scan the code on the bike and find out if it was reported stolen by the owner.
The system has existed in the Belgian and Flemish capital for several years and according to Brussels mobility minister Elke Van den Brandt (Flemish Green) has already clearly proved its efficiency: "There are already more than 50,000 registered bicycles on mybike.brussels, and more and more bicycles are being recovered. I am very pleased that this successful system is being extended to the rest of the country."
The Fietsersbond also welcomes the fact that the system is now being rolled out in Flanders and Wallonia. "This is a huge advance in the fight against bicycle theft" a spokesperson told VRT.