After Being Trapped in a Parking Lot for Three Hours, Moroccan Invents €14.90 Car Alert Device
In Spain, 31-year-old Mohamed El Aoud Kriam has developed a device that lets people contact a driver without knowing their phone number. He arrived from Morocco at the age of three and came up with the idea after being stuck for nearly three hours in a parking lot in the Pyrenees.
Mohamed remembers that day in the Pyrenees perfectly. His car was parked on an esplanade when two motorists parked in front of and behind him. He couldn’t get out, and no one knew who the vehicles belonged to. He had to wait nearly three hours for their owners to return.
“If I could contact the owners directly, it would be sorted in an instant,” he thought. The mishap, recounted to the Spanish daily El Periódico de Aragón, gave him the idea to create VialTag, a small sticker designed for car windscreens.
The young man grew up in Alpartir, in the province of Zaragoza, after arriving from Morocco at the age of three. He holds an advanced vocational qualification in mechatronics and a master’s degree in artificial intelligence, and has lived in La Almunia de Doña Godina for five years. He developed the project on his own.
Send a WhatsApp message without knowing the driver’s number
The idea is simple. A sticker fitted with a QR code and an NFC chip is placed on the inside of the windscreen. If someone notices an open window, headlights left on or a car blocking the way, they can scan the code with their phone.
A form opens without the need to install an app. The person simply selects the reason for the alert and takes a photo of the problem. The owner then receives a WhatsApp message, without their number being shared with the person who alerted them.
Mohamed has built in several safeguards against false alerts, including requiring users to take a photo when reporting a problem rather than selecting one from their phone’s gallery. Drivers can also temporarily deactivate their VialTag or transfer it to another vehicle.
The device is priced at 14.90 euros, plus 2.90 euros for delivery, according to the official VialTag website. The price includes four years of service, with no monthly subscription.
The launch began in La Almunia and nearby towns. At the time of his interview with the newspaper, Mohamed said nearly 60 devices had been activated. He now hopes to expand sales across Aragón, including through partnerships with garages and car accessory shops, before targeting the rest of Spain.
