UAE not mulling plans to impose expat driving licence restrictions

10 years ago | Posted in: Laws | 894 Views

ABU DHABI // The head of the UAE Traffic Council said he has not considered plans to impose restrictions on certain expatriates obtaining a driving licence.

“I’m against it,” said Maj Gen Mohammed Saif Al Zafeen, director of the Dubai Police traffic department and head of the council. “Everybody should have the right to obtain a driving licence.”

In February, the Federal Traffic Council had unanimously approved a proposal to reduce the legal driving age to 17. It has been submitted to the Ministry of Interior’s policies and strategies council.

Gen Al Zafeen had said it was “common sense” to provide young people with an opportunity to obtain a licence, and legalising it would reduce the number driving without a licence and without parental approval.

But expatriates’ driving licences are under scrutiny in neighbouring Qatar following a ban on labourers in July.

An advisory council in Qatar has recommended a review of its policy, one of the measures being taken to reduce congestion in the country, reported Qatari daily The Peninsula last week.

New driving licences for labourers have been banned since July last year in the Gulf state. Driving schools can no longer register labourers who wish to learn how to drive light and heavy vehicles. The ban excludes motorcycles.

Robert Hodges, chief operating officer at Emirates Driving Institute in Dubai, welcomed Maj Gen Al Zafeen’s comments on granting all residents access to driving licences.

“Everyone should be entitled to learn to drive and to obtain a licence,” Mr Hodges said. “In the developed world it is pretty much a right to be able to qualify as a driver.”

Most congestion during peak hours is due to commuter traffic and restricting the number of drivers on the road is only feasible if you have commuting alternatives such as public transport or company vans or buses, said Glenn Havinoviski, a transport expert in Abu Dhabi… see more

source: thenational.ae

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