Bahrain to have new vehicle tracking tech
Manama, June 9, 2010
Police will soon be able to track every single vehicle in Bahrain using state-of-the-art technology, it has been announced.
Vehicle registration badges containing sensitive microchips will be introduced by the end of the year, said General Directorate of Traffic director-general Lieutenant Colonel Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Sobah Al Khalifa.
They will replace registration discs currently displayed on the windscreens of all registered vehicles - allowing police to monitor all cars, trucks, motorbikes and buses with Global Positioning Satellite technology.
Microchips embedded in the new registration badges will be linked to a new computer system at the General Directorate of Traffic, enabling police to pinpoint the specific location of vehicles at any time.
It means officers investigating a crime will immediately know which vehicles are in the vicinity, whether it is a hit-and-run or a burglary.
'These badges can be easily tracked by satellite and accessed by traffic police on site through a mobile device, which will give all necessary information about the vehicle,' Lt Col Shaikh Abdulrahman told a Press conference at traffic police headquarters, in Isa Town.
The hi-tech badges are being introduced along with new number plates available from June 20, which are specially designed to prevent the theft and illegal modification of number plates.-TradeArabia News Service