The number of cars that are stolen seems to decrease when the corona virus flares up. This is the conclusion of the Dutch Association of Insurers based on the theft figures from the police.
From March onwards, fewer cars were stolen and in April, May, June and July the number of vehicle thefts was also lower than in the previous year. More cars were then stolen in August and fewer in September compared to the same months last year. “Of course it is and remains a guess as to what the exact cause is”, says André Bouwman of the National Vehicle Crime Information Center. “It seems that vehicle criminals are also under the spell of corona.”
According to Bouwman, the regions of East Netherlands, Rotterdam and Amsterdam are the top three in the number of vehicle thefts. In the east of the Netherlands, the number of stolen cars has remained more or less the same. In Amsterdam, the number of thefts fell by 17 percent and in Rotterdam by 14 percent. “Although we do not have any hard facts, the increase in Rotterdam may have to do with the port. We think that criminals, who increasingly steal ‘to order’, put away less by road and more by port,” says Bouwman.