DESIGNS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPUTERIZED MOTOR VEHICLE NATIONAL PLATE NUMBER GENERATION SYSTEM

1.1 Introduction

Computerized vehicle plate number registration is the registration of a motor vehicle identification number with a government authority, either compulsory or otherwise. Motor vehicle national plate numbering which involves registration of vehicles as part of its process is the allocation of an identification mark to a vehicle by serially numbering of motor vehicles. As much as there is need for sanity to be maintained on roads, motor vehicle national plate numbering becomes of necessity in traffic matters for identification purpose. In as much as motor vehicle national plate numbering has been in existence for ages now, the old system of numbering had been in adoption which did not play a significant role highway safety until the development of the new system of plate numbering where a reflective sheeting which is more visible to read even in the dark, special alphabetic codes are allocated to each vehicle which distinguishes the vehicle from any other vehicle throughout the whole federation, thereby creating some measure of uniqueness in such vehicle.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitation of the study and Definition of technical terms.

1.2 Background of Study

Recently, computer has been discovered as a very efficient instrument, which has played a very significant role in adequate management of information. Besides, it has played more role in government services and operation, more especially in addressing the function in all traffic matters in the country, such functions like motor vehicle registration/ motor vehicle national plate numbering. However, computerization has helped in many areas of life and due to indispensability of motor vehicle national plate numbering in traffic matters as it concerns the government and vehicle owners thought of computerization of this operation becomes of great necessity in order to blank out the manual data processing system from which many problems have emanated.

This new system of national plate numbering which is the central focus of this write up came into effect from 16th January 1993 and handled by federal Road Safety Commission. It is introduced to enforce strict compliance to traffic rules and regulations as well as providing a proper data as to the behaviour of road users. In other words, this national plate numbering is designed to identify a particular vehicle to the rightful owner making the identification of such vehicle easy.

Motor vehicle national plate numbering is done by 2 government offices namely: Local government motor licensing offices for personal vehicles and cabinet office or any military established offices. In personal vehicle, suffix codes, codes administered to vehicle plates owned by individuals help in identifying the local government where such vehicle was registered, also that particular code cannot tally with that of any others local government throughout to register up to two million vehicle before the code exhausts.

Since motor vehicle plate numbering is absolutely essential in traffic matters, it is vital to absolutely and sustain an information system using a reliable device like computer system in oft to provide and maintain proper data /records concerning the road users in this aspect of traffic function. This is achieved by writing a software that can be able to carry out this operation, which is the prospect of this study, thus computerization of this traffic service becomes of necessity to enhance the work.

The purpose of motor vehicle registration is to establish a link between a vehicle and an owner or user of the vehicle. This link might be used for taxation or crime detection purposes. While almost all motor vehicles are uniquely identified by a vehicle identification number, only registered vehicles display a vehicle registration plate and carry a vehicle registration certificate. Motor vehicle registration is different from motor vehicle licensing and roadworthiness certification. Motor vehicles may also be registered with property owners or managers to gain benefits. for example, organizations with parking facilities may require registration of a vehicle with them to allow authorized users to park there (Wikipedia, 2021).

1.3 Statement of Problem

Investigation revealed that due to limitation of human effort and potentials, application of manual system in motor vehicle, national plate numbering has posed some problems and threats to the work which can go a long way in been eliminated through computerization of the process. These problems are:

1. Participation of Unauthorized Officers: Unauthorized officers according to my observations are involved in this work especially in the sale of plate numbers, which can encourage frand.
2. Wrong Charging of Fees: the officers in charge are bound to charge wrongly to vehicle owners, which may be as a result of under assessment or over-assessment of the vehicle. This could be with a motive to commit frand or as a result of mistake on the part of the officer at work.
3. Wrong sales Location: Staff under a particular local government motors licensing office indulge in selling of motor vehicle plate numbers that does not bear their code thus does not belong to them. This is to the detriment of the purpose for which each local government was assigned a code, which is to identify the local government a vehicle was registered.
4. Improper Accounting: There is the tendency of the cashier involved in the handling of income generated to make mistake during this process, thus having some measures of inaccuracy in the work.
5. Hard retrieval of Information: There is difficulty a time in tracing a record/information concerning a vehicle owner due to improper information keeping as a result of carelessness or volume in the size of record kept.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to design and implement a Computerized Motor Vehicle National Plate Number Generation System. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows to design and develop an application software that will:

1. Provide a bug free system that will allow for the generation and assignment of an infinite unique vehicle plate number to vehicles;
2. Provide a better, easier and more efficient method of vehicle plate number generation and registration;
3. Restriction of illegal user access to the vehicle National Plate Number Generation System;
4. Automate assigning of fee with the correct amount in other to avoid error of wrong assessment; and
5. Automatically assign fee with the correct amount without error of wrong assessment.

1.5 Significance of Study

The proposed system will be of immensely beneficial to the Government, Vehicle Owners and Automobile Company. The relevance of the study will specifically:

1. Provide confidentiality by detecting double registration, and provide useful information to track every completed registration.
2. Provide integrity as data cannot be modified undetectably from unauthorized users.
3. Provide a basis for accurate auditing of tax account, because the system will generate a periodic report on the taxes/tickets paid for.

This study will also be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

1.6 Scope of the Study

The scope of this research is focused on the Designs and Implementation of Computerized Motor Vehicle National Plate Number Generation System. The proposed system will automate the process of National Plate Number (NPN) registration and daily tax payment by vehicle owners.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this institution to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
3. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
4. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
5. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).

1.8 Definitions of Terms

Commercial Vehicle: This is any vehicle used within the campus for commercial purposes.

De-registration: This is the process of cancelling all registration pertaining to a vehicle

Directorate of transport: This is a department in every campus mostly controlled by the student’s union government that oversees the activities of vehicles.

Drivers permit: This is the permission given to vehicle owners and drivers to do business with their vehicle on the campus

Ledger: This is a principal book or computer file used for recording monetary transactions generated each day at various parks in the campus.