Digital license plates help police track lost cars

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Vehicle license plate numbers in Sacramento, California, have gone digital and they come with some added perks.

The city agreed to start pilot-testing new digital plate numbers in limited quantities last week. Sacramento also became the first city to try out the new technology, according to a report by The Sacramento Bee.

The digital plates run on the same technology used on Kindle e-book readers and come with wireless connectivity. The plates also have embedded chips that require their own battery source.

Each plate costs $699 (about P36,000) and will have a monthly fee of $7 (around P360). While expensive, the plates do come with some added features. Digital plate owners may register their vehicle over the internet. They may also get their vehicles validated each year without the need to get sticker tags from a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office. If allowed by the DMV, owners may also display personalized messages on their digital plates.

These digital plates also come with a tracking system that police can use to find stolen vehicles.

“The purpose of the pilot is to identify and detail potential benefits, so we are still in the evaluation phase and won’t make any determinations until the pilot concludes,” said the DMV, according to the report.

Reviver Auto, the maker of the plates, expecs the new technology to first gain interest from companies with fleets of vehicles, given the cost. For now there are only 24 digital plates being tested on an in-house vehicle fleet of the Sacramento government.  Alfred Bayle /ra

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