Increasing numbers of local motorcycle and scooter dealerships have begun to offer special anti-theft measures to customers to help them prevent their motorbikes from being stolen.
According to National Police Administration (NPA) statistics, in 1991 there were 1.25 million registered motorcycles and scooters in Taipei City.
Ten years later, the total amount of registered motorcycles and scooters in Taipei City stands at 2.5 million.
The total amount of registered motorcycles and scooters nationwide is more than 11 million. However, approximately 200,000 of the motorbikes are stolen every year.
Wu Kuo-yang (吳國揚), a motorbike technician who owns and runs a dealership and repairshop in Chungho, Taipei County, said that there is actually very little a person can do to prevent his or her motorbike from being targeted.
"Some people use two locks on their bikes -- one on the front wheel and the other on the rear wheel. But it doesn't really help," Wu said.
Wu said that there are some precautions that can be taken to make a motorbike less attractive to thieves, such as making it harder for its individual parts to be resold.
"Usually, thieves will rip apart a motorbike right after they steal it," he said. "As a result, the easiest way is to spray-paint different colors directly onto the motorcycle or scooter. Most thieves will not be interested in spray-painted bikes because they will have to spend extra money and time to repaint them if they want to sell the parts."
Wu said that people can simply paint their motorbikes themselves or they can have a technician do it. He said that many dealerships will paint a new motorbike for free when it is purchased.
Another popular anti-theft measure that dealerships offer is to imprint the motorbike's vehicle identification number on the corners of 20 to 30 different parts of the motorbike. This method usually comes with full insurance coverage. According to Wu, having the identification numbers put on the motorbike only costs about NT$1,000 and can be done within an hour.
"It's like having a sign on it that says `you will have a hard time selling me' to the thieves," Wu said. "As a result, we don't imprint the number on every single part of the motorbike. Putting it on the parts that will easily be seen [by a thief] is good enough."
Since the number is put on the corners of the parts, the appearance of the motorbike is not altered, as with painting. In addition, should the bike be stolen anyway, the owners will be able to get part of their money back from the insurance company.
"It's a pain for anyone to have his bike stolen," said Diao Chien-sheng (
"It's a shame that we have so many stolen motorbikes every year. Regardless of whether it is going to be successful or not, we have to try everything possible to decrease the amount of thefts."
Chen Po-yu (陳柏羽), a vehicle databank operative at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications' Department of Motor Vehicles in Chiayi City, said that it is almost impossible for owners to get their motorbikes back once they are stolen because they are generally taken apart for their parts. The parts are then sold in Southeast Asia or China.
Besides the anti-theft methods offered by dealerships, some riders have their own solutions.
Eva Lu (
"I bought my scooter in 1998," she said. "I only wash it a couple of times a year even though it's getting old now. However, I always keep the engine and gearbox in good shape, but not the appearance. It's sad but that's what I have to do if I don't want it to be stolen."
A professional with the surname Lin said she constantly worries about her new scooter being stolen.
"My dealer suggested I purchase theft insurance when I bought it," she said. "However, I decided not to pay the annual NT$3,000 insurance fee because it is kind of expensive."
Instead, Lin bought a strong lock for her scooter and says that she always spends extra time looking for a safe spot to park.
"I always avoid the first and the last spots in a row of motorbikes," she said, "and if there is a parking area or garage for motorcycles and scooters, that is my preferred place to park."
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
RSS