Track Your Car

Recession has given rise to price hikes and unemployment and thus to committing crimes as well. In addition to all the robberies, car snatching is perhaps the most common menace.

Out of the thousands of car stolen every year-expect for a few that are taken by teenagers for a joyride- most are stolen by professional thieves who sell them onwards or sell the valuable parts to mechanics or second-hand spare parts dealers. This risk of car stolen can not be completely stopped but by taking few preemptive measures can prevent it from happening- GPS system is one such solution.

GPS or global positioning is a device which helps in tracking, immobilizing and recovering a stolen vehicle, thus giving the car owner a sense of security that his valuable possession is safe and sound.

GPS determines the precise location of any object to which it is attached. It records the position of the assets at regular intervals-the recorded data can be stored within the tracking unit, or it ma be transmitted to a central data base using a cellular, radio or satellite modem embedded in the unit. This allows the object’s location to be displaced against a map backdrop, either in real-time or when analyzing the track offline.

There are three major categories of GPS tracking units- data loggers, data pushers and data pullers. The categories are divided on the base of how data logged and retrieved.

Data loggers; Data loggers are the most basic type of GPS. A GPS data logger simply logs the position of the object or asset at regular intervals and retains it in an internal memory. Usually they are used by the sportsmen in order to track their location during hiking, biking and jogging.

Data pushers; Data pushers are commonly used by companies that need to manage the large fleet of vehicles. If goods transported or sorted in a specific place, they can constantly monitor to avoid risk of being stolen.

Data pullers; Data pullers remain ‘switch on’ all the time and allows the user to ‘pull’ the information as frequently as needed. It is less common than data pusher but can prove to be useful for tracking down the stolen property.

In Pakistan some of the renowned companies offering tracking system are Trakker, Tracking World and SimTrack and the technology was introduced in Pakistan by Jameel Yusuf, owner of Trakker (Pvt) Ltd, in collaboration with South Africa’s DigiCore Holdings.

The irony is that in spite of all attempts criminals are always smart enough to find ways to beat the protection. The came case is true to car tracking system. Car lifters have devised new ways to disable the tracking system.

Many people have the view that car tracking system doesn’t give 100 per cent guarantee and they also do not afford the fee charges by the tracking companies.

The car thieves are using GSM jammers for disabling trackers installed in the vehicle. These jammers can block the communication transmitted between the tracking company and the vehicle and in this way the car’s whereabouts simply vanish from the monitoring screen of the tracking company. But GSM jammers are too expensive to be affordable by most unprofessional thieves; therefore they are not great threat. Most of the tracking system has a power back. If the main power source is cut off, the device switches to its backup and notifies the control room immediately about the main power cut. Therefore is the thief disabling the tracker, even then the tracking device can help track the vehicle. The tracker is easily to locate in small cars and diesel vehicles. Car thieves can easily locate the tracking system by opening the bonnet and making the vehicle ignition system direct. But now a lock system has been designed for the bonnet so that the car lifters cannot open it at once the vehicle has been immbolises by the tracker.

C-trackker system by Trakker Company cost of Rs50, 000/- at the time of installation and pays Rs11, 000/- annually.

‘Tracking device’ if affordable by the car owners, can really prove to be helpful as they minimize the risk of asset from being robbed.