THE INTERIOR Ministry has called on people who own vehicles to head as soon as possible to the nearest traffic department to get their new electronic car stickers. The sticker, which will be attached to the car's windshield, has a smart chip on which all data of registered vehicles are stored and can be retrieved through a computerised system. “We started the installation of the electronic car stickers on vehicles across Egypt at all traffic units,” the ministry said in a statement issued last week. The sticker allows traffic authorities to record violations and fines electronically from a distance through special infrared devices at traffic lights and by traffic officers on the streets. According to the statement, the sticker, which is not for motorcycles, also lets the traffic authorities locate areas where there is traffic congestion and guide drivers to the best alternative routes by electronically linking the stickers with the Traffic Information Centre. The sticker, which costs LE50, also allows authorities to track stolen vehicles as well as those with expired licences. The ministry said the sticker will be damaged if there is an attempt to remove it and that removing, hiding or manipulating the stickers will be punishable by fines. Moreover, the ministry urged people who own vehicles that have numbers-only plates to head to the traffic departments to replace them with plates which carry numbers and letters. The call for the replacement of old plates applies to the governorates of Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Al-Wadi Al-Gedid, Port Said, Suez, Ismailia, South Sinai, North Sinai, Marsa Matrouh, the Red Sea, Aswan and Assiut. The ministry's call comes as part of preparations to implement an advanced electronic traffic system throughout the country. *A version of this article appears in print in the 7 November, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
