Cracking down on bike-theft in the Netherlands

Holland boasts the world's most advanced anti-bike theft programmes. Now one Dutch bike-maker has developed a portable scanner which allows police to easily check if any bike on the street has been stolen.

There's plenty of opportunity for bike theft in Holland - but the country runs the world's most advanced anti-bike theft programmes.

The backbone of the system is the National Bike Register which can be consulted online and allows dealers and consumers to check if the used bikes offered to them are stolen and contains data on every new bike sold in Holland. When such a bike is reported stolen, it's marked in the register.

The register also contains details of bikes reported stolen before January 1, 2007 and laws require the police to keep the register up to date, logging calls from the public about stolen bikes.

Virtually every new bike sold in Holland has an in-built anti-theft chip and the whole police force has electronic reading devices that can access data from these chips. Recently Dutch bike manufacturer Batavus developed a reader that provides a direct connection with the National Bike Register, making it much easier for the police to check bikes. As a result, the Dutch police force is redoubling its efforts to combat bike theft.

For the rest of this item from BikeRadar.com, click here