The Police are considering a new law that means reckless drivers in the UAE will be taken to jail. They’ve also floated an idea that could save learner drivers a lot of money…

The UAE’s Federal Traffic Council has recommended to the Police that reckless drivers be jailed when caught endangering others.

The hope is to help deter reckless drivers. However, the council has said the offenders should be held for less than 24 hours.

According to the Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, Major-General Mohammad Saif Al Zaffin, 30 per cent of fatal accidents in the UAE are caused by reckless driving. However, as the police chief told Al Bayan, 70 per cent of fatal accidents are caused by one thing – speed.

Last month the council recommended that motorists driving at speeds of 50 per cent over the speed limit should also be arrested – and that extreme speed should become a criminal offence rather than a traffic one.

These plans to make the UAE’s roads a safer place join the Dubai Police’s plan to ban eating, applying makeup, drinking, reading, combing your hair and smoking electronic shisha while driving in order to combat distracted driving and swerving. The Police have also recently suggested that making and receiving handsfree calls be banned for drivers.

ALSO, PARENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO TEACH KIDS HOW TO DRIVE…

Yesterday the council also suggested that the rules be changed so that guardians are able to teach their children to drive.

The council says that if a parent has been driving for more than two years and has no major traffic violations or accidents in their name they should be able to teach their dependents how to drive across the UAE. It would certainly save people a lot of money.

At the moment in the UAE new drivers can only learn how to drive at official driving schools.

When or if these recommendations will become law is unknown – but the fact they’ve been raised at an official level means it’s quite likely they’ll happen. We’ll definitely keep you updated.

Photo: Getty Images 

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