BUSINESS NEWS
The dot that has cut car theft
Posted Thu, 05 Oct 2006
Who would have thought a microscopic dot — or some 10 000 of them — would have led to a 52 percent drop in vehicle theft?
According to Avis and Clarendon Transport, since the launch of Datadot — a system whereby thousands of tiny microdots encoded with the vehicles' unique identification number is sprayed all over the car — car theft has fallen by 52.4 percent. At the same time, vehicle recovery has increased dramatically, in some cases by up to 87 percent.
The technology has also cut the sale of stolen parts by 'chop shops' which have negatively affected the sale of the new parts by dealers.
In addition, over 250 microdot recovery kits have been distributed to various vehicle crime fighting sections within the SAPS.
Said Gerhard Genis, Head of Santam's Claims Administrative Services: "SAPS say that microdotting will cut down on theft and hijacking. Furthermore, it will help them identify stolen vehicles. Such is the value of
microdotting that Business Against Crime and the insurance industry as a whole are lobbying to make it mandatory."
Moreover, using the technology has also led to a reduction in monthly insurance premiums, Genis said.
"Although not all theft preventative measures will reduce monthly insurance premiums, in the long run these measures will keep your premiums down by reducing claims.
"If your car is stolen and replaced by your insurer, your premiums will go up, whether or not it was due to your negligence, so it makes sense to prevent thieves from targeting your car in the first place."
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