Car theft in Australia is a significant problem, costing over $300 million a year but a new weapon is available in the battle to stymie car thieves - DataDot Technology.
Although the recent announcement of secure VIN labels has been a welcome addition to the fight, DataDot Technology is by far and away the best method of utilising their effectiveness.
DataDots are miniscule polyster substrate microdots, every one laser etched with the car’s unique 17 digit VIN number. Up to 10,000 dots can be sprayed all over and under a solitary car.
Already 600,000 Australian vehicles are DataDot protected, making their identity virtually impossible for professional thieves to conceal.
Police only need to find one dot, scrape it off and read the VIN, with a simple magnifier to verify the origin of the car or part.
The technique is the only 'Whole of Vehicle Marking' system endorsed by the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council (NVTRC).
NVTRC executive director Ray Carroll said DataDots and secure VIN labels are complementary technologies that help to deter professional car thieves.
"Pervasive Whole of Vehicle Marking is particularly important to protect cars against parts stripping and we encourage all car manufacturers to get on board and help car owners and drivers where they need it,” Carroll said.
According to NMVTRC research, DataDot marked vehicles have enjoyed reductions in unrecovered theft rates of between 60 and 90 per cent. Police and Transport departments throughout Australia have now been trained on the forensic effectiveness of DataDot DNA and particularly the chance of successful prosecutions in court.
Auto-makers protecting their models with DataDots include: Subaru, Audi, Lexus, Porsche, Lotus and certain models in the Holden, Ford Performance Vehicle, Mitsubishi and the Toyota range.
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Subaru WRX has DataDot technology