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DNA for your vehicle We've all heard about the benefits of human DNA in criminal matters. Now there is DNA for your bakkie, truck, bus, coach or vehicle! CHARLEEN CLARKE reports. Turn on your telly to watch a crime series and the term pops up regularly. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the stuff that carries each individual's unique genetic information and enables more crimes to be solved around the world. Now the term has entered the motor industry, but instead of acid, it takes the form of dots. Very, very small dots - the size of a grain of sand - which are applied to vehicles to . identify their owners. The technology, with its roots in microdots used by World War 11 spies to send secret messages, was invented by Brent McLaws, an engineer from Spokane, Washington, and was further developed in Australia. But why is all this cloak and dagger. stuff necessary? Vehicle theft is rife in this country. Back in 1980, just 40 000 vehicles were stolen in South Africa (SA) each year. That figure has soared to well over 100 000. The cost of vehicle crime to the public in 1996 was estimated at R7.4 billion (excluding SAPS costs, loss of investment, tourism losses, emigration and the costs of death and trauma). The problem is not unique to SA. In Australia, vehicle theft costs almost US$1 bn a year. In the USA, 1.2 million vehicles are stolen annually at a cost of US$7.5 bn, while some 171 000 vehicles were stolen in Canada in 2003, costing Canadians $600 m. South America also has a serious problem. In Brazil, for instance, 10 000 vehicles are stolen every month. Interpol estimates the total global cost to be US$19 bn and describes the illicit trafficking of motor vehicles as a well-developed form of organised crime. The figures prove that professional thieves operate successfully around the world -despite advanced security measures. Even "foolproof" tracking systems are no guarantee against losing your vehicle. 'Tracking systems work well - while they are connected. The problem is that the thieves in SA now utilise equipment which tells them that the vehicle is equipped with a tracking device. In less than 30 seconds, they can then disarm that device," explains Errol Nino, managing director of Micro Asset Tracking SA. The end result? Your vehicle disappears. Possibly forever. The problem is that, all around the world, stolen vehicles fail to be recovered, Here in SA, around 40% of stolen vehicles vanish permanently. They are then rebirthed and their parts distributed throughout the continent. That's the problem. The solution? The aforementioned dots. Marketed by a couple of companies around the world - including local firms, Datadot SA and Micro Asset Tracking SA - these miniscule dots are sprayed onto your vehicle. All the key panels, engine, gearbox and other expensive parts are covered - the dots are even sprayed into the air-conditioner duct. The adhesive dries in minutes, without defacing the vehicle in any way. The microdots are fixed for life and cannot be changed or altered. Invisible to the naked eye, they glow brightly under a special light and can be used by police to reveal the true identity of suspected stolen vehicles. Each unique number is registered on a national database, to which the police have instantaneous access. And, since there are around 10 000 dots sprayed onto the vehicle, even the most patient thief will never remove them all. Under a microscope, microdots provide information linking the component or body part to a specific vehicle and owner, making it less feasible to steal the vehicle and disassemble it for parts. 'The number of dots makes it impossible for a thief to be confident they have removed every, single one. And if there is just one left, the police will know it is stolen. Furthermore, if a whole motor brand uses the system, any vehicle or vehicle parts of that brand found without dots will immediately raise alarms. So to a professional thief, a vehicle with this system is far more dangerous than one without it," explains Derek Menday, marketing director of DataDot SA. So what can a thief do? The only solution is to stop stealing vehicles that have the system. According to DataDot, statistics prove that this is exactly what has happened around the globe. Yamaha (UK) was one of the earliest successes, marking motor scooters with the dots and seeing theft rates fall dramatically. Then a school in Woollongong, near Sydney, marked computers, cameras and copiers, and theft rates dropped. Coca-Cola dotted its logo-marked umbrellas, tables and chairs at the September 2000 Sydney Olympics, foiling souvenir hunters in the process. Buoyed by this success, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation dotted its television cameras, lenses and editing equipment. According to Menday, the concept is enjoying ongoing success in Australia. "Police in the state of Victoria recently credited the dots for a six-year low in auto thefts and Esso Australia has reported a reduction in the theft and pilfering of its company assets of 88% over one year," he reveals. The dots have proven to be effective in other parts of the world as well. "Motor-scooter theft in Holland has fallen from 24% of all registered scooters to under 2% of tagged scooters over two years. The British experienced an 11% reduction in motorcycle theft.' As a result, today DataDot supplies Nissan (USA), BMW (Australia), Subaru (Australia), Ford Performance Vehicles (Australia), Porsche (Australia), Holden Special Vehicles (GM Subsidiary, Australia), Audi (Australia), lsuzu (Asia), Avis (SA), Techmashimport (Russia), Mitsubishi (UK and WV (Taiwan). "All of these manufacturers/importers have reported a considerable reduction in theft since adopting the system, even early on. BMW and Holden Special Vehicles have used microdots on some Australian models since 2001. As of December 2004, data from that country's National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council indicated that the rate of vehicles being stolen and not recovered was 64 and 75% less than the same brands' unmarked vehicles. 'Similarly, Subaru started fitting some of its models in December 2002 and has since experienced a 93% decline in the rate of stolen and unrecovered vehicles. Looking elsewhere in the world, Nissan North America has experienced a 65% reduction in component theft where this technology has been used,' reveals Menday. Micro Asset Tracking SA paints a similarly rosy picture. 'Case studies around the world have proven that an item that has been marked with microdots is 80% less likely to be stolen by a thief, as the risk of being caught and prosecuted is too great," Nino reports. "Based on the success of the concept, legislation has been promulgated in New Zealand whereby every single new vehicle will have to be microdotted." These overseas statistics are impressive - but what's happening in SA? The terrific news is that Toyota is leading the way when it comes to applying these nifty dots to its vehicles. According to Brian Eades, general manager: marketing communications, it is applying the system to its Quantum buses and panel vans. Branded the Toyota Care Microdot System, it is the first time that the dots are being applied by a South African vehicle manufacturer. The system is clearly identified on the vehicle with a red sticker in the rear side windows. Does this mean that the Quantum is a high theft risk? "Definitely not," says Eades. "We made.the decision to offer the Toyota Care Microdot System free of charge to Quantum buyers simply for peace Of mind. Our research established that buyers of these types of vehicles believed that they may be more prone to theft." Eades explains further that Toyota customers have had real problems, claiming their own vehicles in the past. "Recently, one of our truck customers really battled to claim their own vehicle from the Police pound - even though it was clearly decaled with thelr signage!" he reveals. This is because, as soon as the vehicle has been stolen, the thieves shear off engine and chassis numbers, leaving little chance of the vehicle being traced to its original owner. "In SA, the police currently crush over 2 000 vehicles a month, because they can't trace the owners,' reveals Nino, adding that there are 10 to 15 million computers in Gauteng alone that cannot be traced. (Naturally, the dot technology can also be used on all kinds of valuables.) Monday reckons that 500 000 stolen vehicles are being driven on SA's roads. "In this country, 50% of the stolen vehicles are so professionally rebirthed that they are likely to be permanently undetected," he maintains. "Hopefully, thanks to this new technology, a Quantum will never be crushed because its owners cannot be traced, nor will it be driven by a non-genuine owner," comments Eades. He adds that initial feedback from customers has been most positive. 'They are very pleased with this feature. Maybe it's one of the reasons for the success of the vehicle. Sales are up 50% on our initial forecast!" Eades reveals that Toyota dealers around the country can apply the dots to all makes and models of vehicle. It's a security measure well worth considering," he notes. "It definitely improves the driver's personal safety and security since the vehicle is less desirable to thieves. Furthermore, it is a once-off cost - there are no monthly fees. Also, motorists with 'dotted' vehicles may qualify for insurance discounts." More recently (last month, in fact) Nissan SA announced that it would introduce microdotting on all Nissan vehicles sold in SA, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho - the five member countries of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). Nissan SA's director for marketing and sales, Roel de Vries, believes that the technology is the future of vehicle manufacture: 'Nissan is at the forefront of a number of new technologies which are being introduced into the industry. We believe that by introducing microdot technology, we are adding value to our vehicles - an important aspect of customer satisfaction," he tells FOCUS. Nissan is the first vehicle manufacturer in SA to implement microdot technology as a standard feature on all its locally manufactured and imported vehicles. Another major company that has "gone dotty" is Avis - with encouraging results. "As one of the biggest fleet operators in the country, we are naturally exposed to a high level of vehicle crime," says Avis executive director Pat O'Brien. "Over the past few months we've introduced new risk management measures and beefed up our existing controls to prevent vehicle theft and to recover any stolen vehicles. These are starting to pay off, as is evident in the decline in vehicle theft from our Avis fleet since June," he says. One of the new measures was the application of DataDot technology, to vehicles in the Avis rental fleet. In doing so, Avis became the first vehicle fleet operator in SA to introduce this new technology. National Alamo and Imperial have now followed Avis' suit. Plus, taxi insurer, Clarendon Transport Underwriters (CTU), has entered into an agreement with DataDot, whereby all taxis in its client base will be dotted. It seems the future of vehicle identification and subsequent recovery is clear... or should that be dotty? |
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