Researchers develop new tech to combat number plate thefts

Researchers are set to launch trials of technologies that could improve vehicle identification and combat number plate thefts and misuse.

One technology being tried is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) sticker on a vehicle’s front windscreen which will act as a third number plate, according to researchers from La Trobe university in Australia.

The sticker would self-destruct when removed, enabling police to identify vehicles that are suspected to have a stolen or cloned number plate.

Read also: Local start-ups charged to support aspiration to make Nigeria leading ICT hub in Africa

The second technology is Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), a digital technology that can communicate with road infrastructure and could also be used to identify automated vehicles in the future.

Additional security features for number plates, like holographic patterns on driver’s licences and passports will also be tested.

New digital identification methods would make it harder for an offender to hide a vehicle’s identity as the additional identifiers will not match a stolen or cloned number plate.

“Our Centre will evaluate how selected technologies perform in live deployment and how reliably they can provide tamper-proof digital vehicle identification information in a cost effective and efficient manner,” Aniruddha Desai, Director of the Centre for Technology Infusion (CTI) at La Trobe, which will conduct the trial.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now