No cap on number of licence tests: RTA
dubai — The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai hasn’t yet put a cap on the number of times an applicant can take a driving licence test, a senior RTA official told Khaleej Times.
The official was asked to react to a story which came out on a non-English news website, which said if an applicant fails to pass the driving test 10 times, he/she will be barred from taking it for six months.
He said there is no such policy approved yet by the RTA and the matter is still being “carefully reviewed” for some time. “There are no details yet whether or not the authority will put the cap,” he said.
The RTA official also debunked unfounded reports that they are increasing the number of classes an applicant should take. He said: “We are still implementing for the past years the minimum of 40 lessons. But we cannot say we will never increase the number of lessons. We will, however, carefully take into consideration the ability of people to pay if ever we change the policy. We will definitely review our curriculum to see what is best.”
Khaleej Times previously reported
We will carefully take into consideration the ability of people to pay if ever we change the policy.” An RTA official
that driving classes have become longer this year.
“Effective January 1, 2017, all the lessons will be on an hourly basis and not half an hour,” said Arif Al Malik, RTA director for driving qualifications and training.
Al Malik added that for every two hours of practical training, there must be at least one hour of interval. After that, students may resume their training for another two hours. “A student cannot train for more than four hours per day,” he underlined.
The move was welcomed by the public and a group advocating road safety.
“Authorities are constantly looking to safeguard drivers. In this context, the extension of the driving class duration (from 30 minutes per day to one hour per day) is a welcome initiative,” said Thomas Edelmann, founder and managing director of Road Safety UAE.
angel@khaleejtimes.com