Dubai Forums Dubai Discussions Dubai General Chat

Red Chief wrote:Expatriates from places such as the UK, Canada and Australia would need to pass new tests before receiving their UAE driving licences, under proposals to improve road safety tabled yesterday.

Taxi drivers would be required to have at least two years of driving experience in the UAE before being allowed to work. Other major reforms suggested by a UK consultancy hired by the federal Government included requiring drivers to be at least 20 years old before they can operate some kinds of heavy vehicles and for all new drivers to undergo 30 training sessions.

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll ... /710149834

I don't know if it's a move to a right direction but at least it's fair for non-privileged expats.
At my point of view authority should exchange licence to everyone with experience more than 5 years in own country.

As for cab driver I agreed. At least in Sharjah taxi companies hired people who cannot drive. I just wonder how they passed the tests at all.

Red Chief wrote:At my point of view authority should exchange licence to everyone with experience more than 5 years in own country.

rudeboy wrote:what no1 realises is that the majority of the accidents are created by taxi drivers, bus drivers, coach drivers, van drivers and truck drivers.

Chocoholic wrote:I disagree, because how can you possibly compare someone who had to do little more than drive in a straight line to pass their test, with someone who has gone through theory and rigorous road tests - it's not comparable. Only until road tests are standardized world wide would this work.

smoggie wrote:Arrogance, selfishness, elitism are the norm. Life is cheap!

rudeboy wrote:what no1 realises is that the majority of the accidents are created by taxi drivers, bus drivers, coach drivers, van drivers and truck drivers.

These drivers are low paid and in some cases I am sure they are paid on how many deliveries they do etc etc.

Most of these drivers are from india, pakistan & bangladesh & parts of the Middle East and in my opinion they have the "skills" to drive any vehicle they want. I also think that with the rule of "having 2 years driving experience" will not make the drivers slow down.

Here is a situation, you get into a taxi from dubai airport and you destination is lets say SHARJAH. The total bill comes up to lets say 50Dhs. But the taxi driver drives like crazy. Why? Because maybe most of his day will be stuck in traffic from dubai to sharjah and also when coming back from sharjah to dubai. To make it worse he wont be able to pick up any pessengers from sharjah or on his way to dubai. so if you have 1 trip to sharjah then your whole day is wasted and you will probably not earn that much in that day compared to other non-sharjah trips. With expenses like rent, food, supporting families back home etc etc taxi drivers will drive like crazy regardless of strict license policies.

They have to change the laws i.e if a dubai taxi driver is going to sharjah, he should be able to pick up passengers that want to come to dubai. The same goes for taxi drivers from other states.

Or increase the basic salary of drivers to insure that they dont have to drive wrecklessly.

Also road rules should be same as in abu dhabi where vans shouldnt be allowed to drive in the fast lanes. THere should be atleast 2 lanes designated for vans, trucks, coaches and buses etc.

Red Chief wrote:

Chocoholic wrote:I disagree, because how can you possibly compare someone who had to do little more than drive in a straight line to pass their test, with someone who has gone through theory and rigorous road tests - it's not comparable. Only until road tests are standardized world wide would this work.

Which particular countries are you talking about?

IMHO experience is more important than the theory?

Chocoholic wrote:Oh righto, so knowing about road signs, signals, stopping distances, how to drive in various weather conditions etc is all irrelevant is it?

Chocoholic wrote:I object to having past one of the toughest tests in the world, having driven for 18 years without incident, to then have to be put through a crappy test here, which they'd fail me for no apparent reason to make more cash. It makes no sense whatsoever!

Chocoholic wrote:But that's only because the persons nationality and license origin are different, if they were the same it would be no problem.

Chocoholic wrote:It doesn't at all! Again it's just an excuse to put people through a useless test for profit gain.

canuckbid wrote:Have you ever noticed how people change when they get behind the wheel? You can take a mild mannered grandma is is normally quite and laidback but when they are driving they think they are in the indy 500. Unbelievable how a vehicle can change some one's mindset. Vancouver is full of nut jobs. I've never seen so many people in a hurry to go nowhere.

Chocoholic wrote:I'm not just talking about Brits! But also the other nationalities who can readily exchange their licenses, all come from countries where the test is far harder than the one here - so how does that make any sense. Once again this is a money making scheme pure and simple.

Chocoholic wrote:I don't know about if you are resident, but when I drive on an International license when I travel.

But the point I'm tryig to make is, if you come froma country where the test is a mission to pass in the first place and are then told to take a more substandard one in another country, how does that make sense at all?

Chocoholic wrote:Chief, I'm not just talking about the UK (which you always assume and use it as an excuse to write a bashing post!), but other countries who use rigorous tests, and I don't agree that countries such as yours should be excluded from being able to do a swap.

We all know that the whole thing is a money making scheme, pure and simple! And we all know who the real culprits are for the problems on the roads, I really don't have to say it!