THE NATION

Before the end of the week, Lagos State may adopt the  Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) with a back-up Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)   for vehicle inspection in its land transportation space.

Acting Commissioner for Transportation, Prince Anofiu Elegushi, said the pilot scheme would end the era of physical checking of vehicles,  hitherto handled by the Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS).

In May, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode ordered the VIS off the road. Since then, there have been  speculations about the likely return of the VIS.

‘VIS ’ll not return’

Elegushi said in the new system, all VIS duties, such as vehicle licence, road worthiness certification, insurance documentation and others have been synchronised on the e-platforms to be managed by the Ministry.

According to him, though the pilot scheme will be on till its officials get over all learning stages ahead, the MOT will be eager to implement a state-wide paperless certification for all vehicles on its road network.

The initiative is not new. The same idea had been introduced, last September by the former Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Dayo Mobereola. It was withdrawn due to public outcry against the high fines imposed on its violators.

The major difference between Mobereola’s idea and that of his successor, an analyst who chose not to be mentioned observed, is the absence of the VIS to drive the enforcement.

What’s ANPR

It means Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR). According to Wikipedia, it is a technology that uses optical character recognition or images to read vehicle registration plates. It can use  closed-circuit television, road-rule enforcement cameras, or cameras specifically designed for the task.

Known variously as Automatic (or automated) licence-plate recognition (ALPR), Car Plate Recognition, (CPR), Licence Plate Recognition (LPR) or Mobile Licence Plate Reader (MLPR), the device was invented in 1976 by the Police Scientific Development Branch in the UK, and deployed in 1979, while the first arrest through the detection of the device was in 1981, of a stolen car.

According to Wikipedia, ANPR did not become widely used until 1990s, when new developments in cheaper and easier to use software, were pioneered.

The first documented case of ANPR used to solve a murder case occurred in November 2005, in Bradford, UK, where ANPR played a vital role in locating and subsequently convicting killers of Sharon Beshenivsky.