NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL
New Dubai driving test gives feedback on mistakes
Students can learn from their mistakes under the revamped driving test. Stephen Lock / The National
DUBAI - MAR 02: Next time, you will know exactly why you failed your driving test.
The Roads and Transit Authority (RTA) in Dubai has put in place a grading system for its road tests that outlines where drivers have gone wrong, with the hope that the immediate feedback will lead to safer roads and saved lives.
The new test identifies where prospective drivers erred and is turned over to them after the test.
Under the old system, failed drivers rarely were told what rules they violated.
“The examiner was not clear on the mistakes I made,” said Sami Hussein, a 22-year-old Emirati from Dubai. “Therefore, I was unable to make future improvements.”
The new test will last 15 minutes, follow a standard route and include a list of 45 “minor offences”.
A driver who accrues 13 points or more for minor offences, such as failing to signal a lane change or look in a mirror, fails the test.
Five “serious offences”, such as striking something in the road, end the test immediately.
Road safety experts said yesterday a better test could help improve driving standards and reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on the country’s roads.
Simon Labbett, regional director of the Transport Research Laboratory, a traffic safety consultancy, said drivers “who pass the test correctly will drive better”.
He added: “The driving test is the fundamental component. If you get your test right, you get everything else right. A challenging test is what effectively tries out the training and the learning. It is absolutely critical to have a good, challenging test that is worthy of what is expected in the environment.”
Previously, driving tests in Dubai have been left to the discretion of the examiner, who would decide the route and duration of the test and whether he felt the candidate’s overall performance warranted a pass or a fail. Invariably, the candidate would receive no information on why they had failed.
The revised test is currently undergoing a trial phase at two driving schools and will become mandatory at all test centres within the next three weeks, according to the RTA’s licensing agency.
“Before, there was no set time for taking the test and it was up to the examiner to decide how long the test should go for,” said Mahmoud al Marzouqi, director of drivers training at the licensing agency. “If they made enough mistakes, they would decide to stop the test. “Now the driver will have a form, which will explain where they went wrong.”
He said staging the test over the same route would aid drivers, too.
“Before, they did not know where the test would be and it was different every time.”
Peter Richardson, the general manager in charge of technical and operations at Emirates Driving Institute, said the new test could help improve road safety, but only as part of an overall strategy.
He said the new test “follows a well-proven, established and accepted method. It allows for a greater degree of continuity between the training provided if the methodology is followed in full”.
Mr Richardson said the use of a set route would allow the examiner to look out for particular reactions from the driver.
“You will look for a mirror check here and a lane change there. Regardless of what happens outside of that area, you actually mark what you are looking for,” he said.
Biljana Stojanovski, 32, from Serbia, passed the new-style test last month.
“Even though I passed my test, I knew where I was going wrong and was told to be more careful when I’m driving,” she said.
“I wasn’t looking over my shoulder enough and I wasn’t overtaking too much.”
After the deluge, the UAE cleans-up
SHARJAH - MAR 02: It was the morning after the night before.
After thunderstorms over the weekend left four people dead and areas submerged, the clean-up operation began.
In Sharjah, which saw the highest rainfall 36.2 millimetres of any emirate on Saturday night, business owners in the industrial area were yesterday counting losses running to tens of thousands of dirhams from storm damage as weather forecasters warned that more was to follow.
Residents who found themselves trapped in their homes by rainwater were evacuated by rescuers as police deployed about 70 officers to deal with flood emergencies.
The Dubai Meteorological Office last night issued a severe weather warning which predicted further thunderstorms, heavy rain, strong winds and possible hail in parts of Dubai and the northern emirates today.
Yesterday, although the skies were clear, huge lakes of rainwater remained in warehouses and shops and on roads in Sharjah’s industrial zone, while cars found themselves stalling as they ploughed through the deepest pools.
Several businessmen whose stock was destroyed accused the local authority of failing to help alleviate the floods.
The municipality strongly denied this, saying that 150 of its drainage vehicles were working around the clock to clear flood water.
“It’s like the municipality is saying it would remember us when the rainy season comes to an end. No municipality drainage official or vehicle has come here for now two days,” said Jamal al Khonji, the owner of Al Shorafa Tyres Trading in Emirates Road Industrial Area.
Mr al Khonji said the storms had so far cost him about Dh150,000 (US$41,000) in damages and lost business. He was afraid the municipality’s “continued neglect” would see those costs rise.
“I lost one tyre-repair machine; it submerged in water and was damaged beyond repair. Also there were 25 cartons of engine oil in my shop, all perished. I also lost two glass cylinders.”
Customers were still unable to enter Mr al Khonji’s workshop yesterday; the reception area remained flooded.
Baid Khan, a Pakistani who runs Baid Khan shoe shop in the same part of the industrial zone, said his losses stood at around Dh80,000. The rain destroyed most of his stock.
“Look at all my shop and shoe cartons,” he said. “Nothing is left and no one can compensate me for all this loss.”
Houshang Khonji, the owner of al Duraka clothes shop, said he had lost about Dh40,000 in garments damaged or soiled by the rains. He was afraid the damage to his stock might dent his reputation and took the surviving clothes home with him last night to protect them.
Ali Abdrahman, the Emirati owner of Haseel Building Materials store in al Nahda, said the storms had been his worst ordeal in 20 years as a businessman.
He said the rain and high winds had destroyed more than 500 bags of cement, 500 boxes of tiles and 700 hundred bags of tile adhesives and grout.
“I don’t know what to do today if it rains, I will have to ask some technician to put something on the door that can stop water flooding into the store,” he said.
Obedi al Serkal, who owns a spare-parts warehouse, said he had lost about Dh50,000 during the storms.
“My concern is no drainage tank is coming to help us with the water,” he said. “People are even removing the water from their houses using their hands.”
A spokesperson for Sharjah Municipality said workers had already completely drained the flood water in several densely populated areas.
“The municipality has dedicated 150 drainage vehicles, all working around the clock to ensure complete drainage in the shortest time possible,” he said.
He urged residents to call the municipality’s toll-free 993 number to report flood-related emergencies.
Col Mohammed al Madhloom, the head of the Sharjah Police operations room, said his officers had rescued many residents trapped in their houses by surrounding flood water. Many more homes have had their power supply cut off as a precaution after three people were electrocuted while standing in flood water.
Several main roads in Taraf, Al Rafaa and Tarafan remained closed yesterday, causing huge delays for motorists heading home from Dubai last night. Some commuters said their homeward journey had taken more than three hours.
Six die in accidents on Dubai Bypass Road
The driver of this lorry died at the scene when it overturned. Courtesy Dubai Police
DUBAI - MAR 02: Six people died in two accidents on Dubai Bypass Road, traffic authorities said yesterday.
Five members of an Iraqi family were killed on Sunday night when their four-wheel-drive vehicle crashed into a lorry stopped beside the motorway. The accident occurred at around 11.30pm near the Al Awir exit.
A 19-year-old Iraqi man was speeding and driving recklessly when the car veered into the lorry, a police investigation revealed.
Five passengers in the car died at the scene, according to Dubai Police. The driver and the other passenger were in critical condition and were airlifted to Rashid Hospital.
In a separate incident, a Pakistani man died yesterday when his lorry overturned when he failed to negotiate a curve in the road.
Authorities said the accidents were not related to the weather.
Further heavy rains to hit UAE
UAE - MAR 02: Rains up to 40mm are expected in parts of the Emirates later today as the hard weather hits again.
Rain clouds are expected to form over the interior of the Western Region before moving throughout the rest of the country. Moderate to heavy rains will spread throughout the country from there, meteorologists in Abu Dhabi said today.
The poor weather will worsen overnight and continue until about 3pm tomorrow, forecasters said. Winds are expected to reach 50km an hour and be accompanied by thunder and lightning.
The Meteorological Department in Abu Dhabi advised people to avoid going to sea during this time and to avoid all water sports, as waves are expected to reach more than two metres.