Microchipped
number plates join fight
against vehicle crime Electronic number
plates, which will be
"read" 24 hours a
day by roadside microwave
beacons and cameras, are to
be introduced in 2004. By
the end of 2007, the
Government aims to have them
on every road vehicle in
Britain, writes Michael
Kemp. Each plate will
have a microchip containing
details of the vehicle's
make, type, colour, engine,
transmission, date and place
of manufacture; its
registered keeper; MoT
status and insurance
validity. False plates will
automatically raise an alert
through the police national
computer in Hendon and the
Driver and Vehicle Licensing
Agency in Swansea. Computers
will be programmable to find
any wanted vehicle. It will
mean new number plates being
fitted to more than 29.2
million vehicles. The chips will cost
about £1 each and a set of
electronic number plates up
to £35, or more if a
one-off tax is applied to
make motorists pay for the
roadside "reading"
infrastructure. The DVLA, which
drew up the plans, is
proposing that "the
whole system is financed by
taxation". The
electronic readers, planned
to be on every road, will
cost "an estimated
average £1,000 each when
purchased in quantity and
placed on existing poles and
gantries". A probable
installation cost of about
£100 million will be
"dramatically
reduced" by sharing
existing infrastructure.
Marked and unmarked police
cars will also be fitted
with the readers. Electronic number
plates will be fitted by new
vehicle suppliers and MoT
testing stations. From the
start of 2003, all number
plate producers will be
registered by law, under the
Crime Prevention Act, and
plates supplied only on
production of a vehicle
registration document and
proof of entitlement by the
vehicle's keeper. By December 2007,
the DVLA aims to introduce
drive-in, paperless
automated relicensing, which
will spell the end for
windscreen-mounted tax
discs. The electronic
plates have been developed
by Birmingham-based Hills
Number Plates, which makes
50 per cent of Britain's
registration tags. A
spokesman said: "Relicensing
will be like buying a
drive-in hamburger. You will
not need to leave the wheel.
Just hand over a credit card
and the whole process will
be done
electronically." Cash
is expected to be accepted. "Front and
rear microchip number plates
are now fully developed at
an extra cost of no more
than £1 each to the motor
trade. Normally a microchip
costs about £5, but by
ordering tens of millions we
have negotiated a
considerably lower price. "Hills is
working closely with the
DVLA and expects the
go-ahead for electronic
number plates in 2004.
Microchip readers will be on
the Trafficmaster (driver
traffic information) radio
masts that cover the main
road network, and certain
camera sites." By 2004, the DVLA
aims to have merged driver,
vehicle and insurance
records into a "single
or virtually single"
database from which the
number-plate microchips will
be programmed. New
regulations will compel
motorists and dealers to
inform the DVLA within one
working week of vehicle
ownership changes. Information
appearing on Electronic
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(Filed: 30/11/2002)