Are moves to make the roads safer paying off?
▶ Learners must take between 10 and 30 hours of driving lessons in Abu Dhabi and about 20 hours in Dubai
For any driver accustomed to taking on the UAE’s labyrinth of motorways, the risks have long been obvious.
A combination of high speeds, tailgating and mobile phone use can and does lead to tragic consequences.
However, new figures suggest a government push to improve road safety over the past few years is having an effect.
But there are still areas where improvements could be made. Stricter driving tests, for example, would probably boost standards behind the wheel.
In recent years the UAE has stepped up efforts to improve road safety and crack down on reckless driving.
Over the summer, Abu Dhabi announced the scrapping of its buffer zone policy – where motorists were permitted to drive 20kph faster than advertised speed limits – and last year a federal law made wearing seat belts compulsory.
Government statistics indicate improvements. In 2017 there were 4.4 road deaths a year per 100,000 people across the UAE, down from 6.1 in 2016. The comparative UK figure is 2.9.
Charlotte Oswald, 22, said she recently completed her driver training in Dubai and had found the experience challenging but useful.
The web developer from Uccle, Belgium, said the blend of cultures and nationalities on UAE roads made for an interesting mix of styles and standards, with motorists from one country accustomed to driving very differently from others.
“By learning in Dubai it was easier to deal with all the different driving cultures on the road here,” she said. “It is so different driving here compared with other parts of the world. That’s why learning in Dubai – with all its different driving cultures – was so useful to me.
“You learn much more about defensive driving here because you need to.
“You become wary and more alert, always looking out for other drivers on the road.
“If I’d already learnt to drive somewhere else, getting used to the roads here would have been much more difficult.”
On the test itself, however, Ms Oswald was less enthusiastic. “It was me, the driving examiner and two other people doing their tests in the car at the same time,” she said.
“We took turns doing our tests and it was all over in 20 minutes. That was it.”
Current requirements to pass a driving test in the UAE vary according to the emirate in which learners take the test.
In Dubai, motorists have to complete 40 half-hour lessons with an instructor before taking a brief theory exam and a final driving test costing Dh200.
If successful, motorists pay an additional Dh100 to receive their licence, but if they fail, a further seven half-hour lessons must be taken before booking a second test.
“The instructors didn’t actually teach me that much,” said Zak Kalloghian, 26, a British national living in Dubai who recently passed his test.
“In one case the instructor was almost falling asleep during the lesson while I was driving. I couldn’t believe it.
“It felt to me like the priority was to make money rather than ensure proper standards.”
In Abu Dhabi, however, the rules change. Learners have to take between 10 and 30 hours of driving lessons as well as a Dh50 theory test on subjects such as speed limits.
Khalid Javed, an instructor with the Emirates Driving Institute, agreed that the multicultural nature of the UAE made motoring a challenge.
He also said driving tests here were short and much less demanding than in other parts of the world, leading to higher pass rates.
“The driving test here is far easier compared with other developed countries like the United Kingdom, Japan, Sweden and Australia,” he said.
“There the testing system is tougher and pass rates are comparatively lower. Here the testing process is not very lengthy.
“Candidates need to sit behind the wheel for only a short period of time for the actual road test.
“There’s also the issue here of adapting to drivers from different parts of the world.
“Motorists have to expect unexpected behaviour like sudden swerving, abrupt stopping and being impatient towards learners. Different cultures mean different imprinted behaviours.”
According to the Ministry of the Interior, there were 706 road traffic fatalities in the UAE in 2016, of which 312 were linked to speeding.
These numbers have fallen, with 2017 statistics revealing 525 deaths, of which 230 were caused by speeding. There were 3.39 million vehicles registered in the UAE in 2016.
Thomas Edelmann, managing director of Road Safety UAE – a pressure group dedicated to reducing traffic deaths – said the country was making headway in improving standards.
Mr Edelmann said government officials spent time on secondment abroad to learn best practices and that the growing number of UK driving instructors working in the Emirates was also helping to improve road safety.
“The majority of UAE driving school students come from the subcontinent, where they’ve already been driving for years,” he said. “They pick up habits which in many instances would not be considered best practice in the UAE in terms of safe driving and respectful manners.
“But despite this many government staff have worked in overseas countries to get exposure to best practices and as a consequence we’ve seen very positive developments in the past couple of years.”