Highway training made mandatory for new drivers in Dubai

Gulf news picture

Training to drive on the highway for a minimum of two hours has been made mandatory to obtain a driving licence in Dubai, officials announced yesterday.

"After passing the road test, drivers will now have to undergo driving lessons along the highway, with trainers beside them, before they are issued a driver's licence," said Ahmad Hashim Behroozian, CEO of the Roads and Transport Authority's (RTA) Licensing Agency.

"This will ascertain the drivers' ability to cope with the vehicle as well as other vehicles on the road."

He was speaking at the launch of the unified curriculum for all driving institutes in Dubai.

The unified curriculum for training and qualifying those wishing to obtain driving licences for light motor vehicles has been distributed to all institutes and has been put into effect since the start of this year, he said. Training on the highway is just one of the changes the new curriculum will introduce. Other significant changes include mandatory night driving lessons and lessons on sudden braking in case of emergency situations.

"It is a complete training package, which takes the learner from attitude development and road safety awareness to vehicle familiarisation, from driving in simple to complex road networks to night driving until finally to freeway driving."

At present, every driving school has its own curriculum. "They all cover the major skills but by unifying we have put a structure around the training process and based on this the schools can come up with improvements," Behroozian said.

The new curriculum — delivered in Arabic, English and Urdu — has two components. The theoretical component comprises eight basic lectures and videos — including road rules, attitude and accident case studies — which are mandatory for trainees to attend as they cover safety standards and groom them to become able drivers, he said. The practical component comprises five basic stages including emergency braking, parking exercises, night driving and highway driving.

No additional costs

The number of mandatory lessons will still continue to be 40 lessons. This way the curriculum will not mean any additional costs for the trainees, Behroozian said, adding that the drivers will benefit from better training at the same cost.

The curriculum will follow a systematic progressive teaching method, whereby trainees will have to demonstrate their proficiency before being allowed to progress to the next step.

Three specific areas along the highway have been identified by RTA for training drivers, Hussain Al Saffar, Director of Drivers Training and Qualification department at the RTA, told Gulf News.

The road connecting the Business Bay crossing to Al Hadiqa Road, Emirates Road from near the Sharjah boundary up to Al Aweer Interchange and Al Aweer road leading towards Hatta are the areas identified.

"While driving along the highway, trainees will not be assessed because they would already have passed the road test. But the training is a means of managing risk on the highways," he said.

Asked if the new curriculum will make it easier or harder for aspiring drivers, Sultan Al Marzouqi, Director of the Drivers Licensing department, said that the RTA's focus is on allowing only safe drivers on the roads.

"The pass rate at driving tests has more than doubled recently, going from 17 per cent on average between 2008 and 2010 to 30 per cent in 2011. Accidents and deaths have also come down. This means drivers are being trained better," he said.

Expatriates' ID card deadline extended in three emirates

Residents of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah whose residence visa expires this year can register and renew ID cards at the time of renewing their visas. They will be exmpt from fines, said Emirates Identity Authority (Eida).

According to an 'Emarat Al Youm' report, more than 683,000 residents in the three emirates will benefit from the new rule.

Eida had earlier set October 31, 2011, as the deadline for all expatriates in the UAE to renew ID cards. Thereafter, they were required to pay Dh20 fine per day, with a maximum Dh1,000.

The Authority said the decision to reshedule registration deadlines was taken because of the demands from a large section of the population in the three emirates to extend the deadline, especially from unskilled class.

Expatriates in Sharjah are required to register and renew their ID cards before February 1; Abu Dhabi residents before April 1; and those in Dubai before June 1.

UAE nationals advised not to marry foreign women

The UAE nationals have been advised not to marry foreign women due to social, legal and financial complications which arise following such marriages, said a renowned lawyer.

Speaking at the Noor Dubai Radio, Isa bin Haider, CEO of Bin Haider Advocates & Legal Consultants in the UAE, said a large number of cases are pending before the courts due to such marriages.

He pointed out that the young men marry foreign women not to make family but to get rich. But if the husband's income gets depleted, the foreign wives create problems which lead to court cases.

Bin Haider urged the UAE youths to marry the Emarati women who follow the same traditions and customs as men.

He also advised the young nationals not to make big commitments with regard to alimony at the time of marriage and follow the rules.

He said a decree by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, fixed it at  Dh50,000 which applies only in case of marriages with the Emirati women.

While the marriages of UAE nationals with foreign women will be subject to what was agreed upon in the marriage contract with regard to alimony.

Bin Haider also informed that the second marriages have additional financial burdens such as leading the young men to deeper debt.

He called for dialogues between couples and urged resorting to solving family problems through discussions and listening to other party’s concerns. He emphasised that if husband listens to wife’s grievances, it will help solve a number of family problems and will lead to a happy life.

According to the National Center for Statistics, most of the marriages by UAE nationals with foreign wives end in divorce. For instance, there were 1,798 marriages with foreigners in UAE last year, and 695, or 39 per cent, of these marriages had ended in divorce.

EIDA launches online registration

Persons applying for a renewal or a new national identity card need no longer to wait in big queues at registration centres as they can now benefit from an online registration service launched on Thursday.

With a click on a few buttons on their personal computer, applicants who have credit cards can now register while at home or office without the need to go through agonizing waiting at packed typing centres.

The Emirates National Identity Authority (EIDA), which is overseeing a nation-wide ID project, said the new services involves new registration, renewal of existing cards, and replacement of lost or damaged cards.

“Applicants can also check the status of their application online…payment can be done by credit card after the applicants register with EIDA website so they can be given a password,” EIDA said in a statement.

EIDA director general Ali Al Khoury said the new service, which is now confined to expatriates, would save time and effort for both the public and registration offices through the UAE.

“It also reduces the Dh70 fee paid by applications to registration offices by 40 per cent…once the applicants finish registration online, they will be given an appointment to go for stamping.”

He said the scores of ID typing and registration centres would continue to operate and serve those who do not wish to register online.

Deportees cannot return to UAE without Interior Ministry’s permission

Expatriates deported from the UAE cannot return to the country, unless they have a judicial or administrative ruling or special permission from the Ministry of Interior.

This is in accordance with a new legal principle, issued by the Dubai Court of Cassation. A visit visa or a residence permit issued by the General Department for Residency and Foreigners Affairs (DGDRFA) stands void if there is no permission of the Interior Minister, the court ruled.

The principles were issued when the court considered the appeal of a foreign woman, who was fined Dh10,000 and was deported.

The Dubai Public Prosecution referred the woman for trial as she entered the UAE without the permission of the Interior Minister.

The Court of First Instance heard the case and fined her Dh10,000 to be followed by deportation. But the woman took the case to the Appeals Court, which upheld the ruling.

Unsatisfied by the two verdicts, she then moved the Court of Cassation, which issued the above principles.

The woman’s argument was that she had a residence visa and is sponsored by her Emirati husband.

But the Court of Cassation rejected her clarifications stating that Interior Ministry’s data as well as her fingerprints confirm the fact that she had been previously deported from the UAE under charges of prostitution. And that she later returned on a visit visa and then changed status to residence visa under the sponsorship of her husband. This, the court ruled, is in violation of the legal rule as well as the Interior Minister's decision.

The Court of Cassation based its ruling on Federal Law No. 6 of 1973, as amended by Law No. 13 of 1996 on entry and residence of foreigners.

Dubai urged to link visa to traffic record

Dubai’s traffic police chief has suggested linking residence visa for expatriates to their traffic record within an ongoing campaign to curb road accidents and attain a zero death target in 2020.

Major General Mohammed Saif al Zafin also revealed the emirate is considering raising the penalty for using the mobile phone while driving, saying the present Dh200 fine is not a sufficient deterrent.

“There is a need to link the issuance of residence visas to the traffic record of expatriates in order to push some groups who top the list of offenders to abide by traffic laws in the emirate,” he said.

“Introducing stiffer penalties and then linking them to residence visas will have a great effect on drivers’ compliance and on reducing road accidents and deaths…the police do not at all want to harm any people in their livelihood but only want to ensure they respect the law.”

Speaking at a seminar on mobile phone use in cars held in Dubai on Thursday, Zafin referred to a recent traffic police report that Pakistanis top the list of road accident causers, adding that there should be measures to deter them. He also proposed cutting the extra speed limit for motorists.

“I believe the 20 km extra speed limited allowed in Dubai is exaggerated and must be reduced to 10 km,” he said.

“The speed limits in some Dubai streets are not compatible with those roads and should be either raised or reduced depending on the nature of the road.”

Speaking about mobile phone use in cars, Zafin said Dubai is considering raising the current fine on the grounds it does not deter drivers.

“The Dubai traffic department is looking forward to increasing the current Dh200 fine for using mobile phones while driving because this fine does not provide enough deterrent to drivers,” he said.

He noted that motorists can use mobile phones while stopping at red lights but added they must end it once the signal turns green.