Driving Rules in UAE


Expatriates with valid residence visas who drive using driving licences issued in their home countries will be prosecuted.

As per Federal Traffic law number 21 for 1995, amended by Law No.12 for 2007 — Article No.51, individuals who drive without obtaining valid driving licences or are found to be driving categories of vehicles not specified in their licences will be jailed and fined.

You can drive in UAE with a licence from these 36 countries

Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States. (Please call RTA on 8009090 for any changes to this list)

Driving licence holders of some countries in the above list will require translations or consulate letters. These countries include:

Canada: A letter from the Canadian Consulate in Dubai to verify that the licence is genuine is required

Driving licence holders from Greece, Cyprus, Poland, Turkey, Japan and South Korea will require a translation of their driving licence from their respective consulates.

Driving License Validity (new rule from 01/07/2017)
The validity of new driving license in the country has been set to two years for citizens, GCC nationals and other nationalities aged 21 years and above.

Licence renewal validity shall be 10 years for UAE citizens and GCC nationals and five for non-citizens from other nationalities.

For those aged less than 21 years, be it citizens, GCC nationals or other nationalities, the initial validity of the driver license issued, replaced or renewed shall be one year.

Why drivers fail Dubai Road Test?

Fear of failure and nervousness are the main causes of drivers not passing the road test, a senior licensing official at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said.

“Behaviour of the driver on road is crucial. The examiner will see whether the driver is safe for other road users or whether he is a threat to their safety,” he added.

However, apart from psychological and behavioural aspects there are major aspects of driving that a driver has to follow to obtain a licence.

There are five major criteria and if a candidate fails to fulfil even one of those, then he is stopped from driving immediately. One of these five is “failure to stop at red light, stop sign or stop line”.

“The most important thing to look for on the road is not how you drive but how you stop, that matters the most. If you fail to stop where you are required then you are gone,” Surprisingly, failure to stop at signals is among the most common mistakes.

“This is common among experienced drivers, those who already have a licence from other countries. What they do is they see the road open and they go, because they carry their habits from their prior experience and it is difficult to change old habits,” he explained.

The other major mistakes are not adhering to traffic signs like entering a no-entry zone or yellow box, lack of vehicle control and failure to ensure the road, lane or roundabout is clear before proceeding.

Apart from control and confidence of the driver, examiners generally look for adherence of rules and there are 16 things among these minor rules that need to be taken care of.

If a candidate takes care of at least 12 of the 16 minor criteria then he will succeed. These are pre-drive checks, mirrors and observation, signals, lane change, overtaking, approach, stop position, judgement, left turn, movement on roundabout and U-turn, right turn, progress and speed, position on road gear use, safety margin, parking in and out.

“Drivers learn these rules during theory classes and road training, but it is important to implement these rules or adhere to them. Young drivers, who are driving for the first time, learn better and adhere to rules better, that’s why they have a better pass rate,” he said.

To pass, the driver has to clear at least 12 of these 16 steps apart from five major points that need to be adhered to.

“If a person drives well throughout his test but commits one major mistake at the end of the test then he will fail,” he stated.


Expatriates of any nationality residing in any one of the GCC countries and visiting the UAE are also allowed to drive using their GCC driving licence.
 

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