Have you ever dinged a car in a parking lot and then made a big show of writing a note, folding it and putting it under the wiper, nodding to passersby as if you’re saying, god, I just wish I had enough time to say to the owner how awfully sorry I am, but see, I’ve left all my information? And the note has nothing on it?

Then this idea is for you.

As original equipment, metal plates are bonded to the bumper in several places. The plates are embossed with unique information—a bar code or dot pattern or some code that is easily transferred and easily read. Impacting another car imprints this information into the impactee.

Someone ding you in the parking lot and left a blank piece of paper under your wiper? Just look him up on the public database, and drive over to his house with a brick...

-- pluterday, Oct 11 2003

Embossed Brick. http://www.sumterco...ative_finishes.html
When you care enough to bend the very best. [Amos Kito, Oct 04 2004, last modified Dec 18 2004]

Car DNA http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Car_20DNA
Another car labelling technique. Far far superior, of course, as it was devised by me. [bungston, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

"Let's see, EW2844072 and Enter"
"Aha! Charlene Day. Gotcha!"
-- FarmerJohn, Oct 11 2003


only one brick?
-- python, Oct 11 2003


How on earth can this get 3 -'s? Novel, useful, and inexpensive idea pluter.
-- Worldgineer, Oct 11 2003


//How on earth can this get 3 -'s?//
There are a few creases in THAT Chrysler:

When you ram someone’s car, you won’t know if you’ve left a legible mark – or hit at an angle that doesn’t set the mark properly.
The person in the story who leaves blank notes couldn’t care less if he's held responsible, so it’s in his best interest to be sure the mark isn’t right.
The imprint plates must be kept in good shape, requiring inspections, even though it’s an irresponsible few doing the hut-and-runs.
Last but not least, it will be assumed that when you hit anyone or anything, you’re free to just drive away.

Don’t get me started on the vengeance brick.
But I have no explanation for the other 2 bones.

Some days I try to cast a few halfbakery votes, and most of the time it’s just a vote (shrimp/fish/neutral). But there’s always a half-reason for it, even with no anno.

This time, I just hit the idea and drove off.
-- Amos Kito, Oct 11 2003


NIce Link [Amos_kito]!. I love the thought of throwing a tastefully veneered brick with texture of wild honeysuckle into the windscren of an offender's car!.
-- gnomethang, Oct 11 2003


[AK] All good points, and I agree that there is no way to make this so perfect as to never fail. However, for the small cost of embossing you'd have the equivalent of fingerprints for cars. It would still be illegal to cause damage and drive away without leaving a note, this would just be an extra piece of evidence that someone has done this.
-- Worldgineer, Oct 13 2003


//you won’t know if you’ve left a legible mark// then just reverse and try again. (+).
-- neilp, Dec 18 2004


Could it be more of a chemical fingerprint? Maybe a molecular addition to the paint that is traceable, but only through chemical analysis? That way, it would be all over the car, and almost always leave a trace.
-- oxen crossing, Dec 18 2004



random, halfbakery