Crown Prince of Dubai issues new directive for testing of self-driving cars

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed passes new resolution as emirate gears up to introduce autonomous vehicles

ABU DHABI, 20th March, 2019 (WAM) -- Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has attended today the graduation ceremony of the 19th batch of the Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum Naval College in Abu Dhabi. Wam
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Dubai is driving forward with its bid to introduce autonomous cars - after Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed gave the green light to plans to safeguard the technology.

The Crown Prince of Dubai and chairman of Dubai Executive Council has issued a directive to regulate testing of self-driving vehicles in the emirate.

The council resolution is part of the first phase of a legislative framework being created to ensure the vehicles are safe to hit the road.

The resolution will task Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority with ensuring safety standards are met during testing.

The RTA will also be responsible for providing licenses to operators and making sure they comply with regulations.

The Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy sets out to ensure 25 per cent of all vehicle on the road are autonomous by 2030.

The hi-tech initiative aims to bring in Dh22 billion to the Dubai economy every year and reduce transportation costs by 44 per cent, resulting in estimated savings of up to Dh900 million.

The influx of self-driving vehicles is also set to slash carbon emissions and the number of accidents, as well as saving millions of hours of time workers spend stuck in traffic rather than in the office.

The new legislation is the latest bid to accelerate plans to roll out the advanced automotive technology.

In August, the RTA sad it had endorsed standards of testing for electric, hybrid and self-driving vehicles to ensure the emirate is “pioneering” in the field.

The government body said that autonomous vehicles will be a fixture on the city's roads in the "near future".

The RTA said it had held 66 workshops with vehicle manufacturers, approved testing centres in Dubai and consultancy companies in the UAE to review and discuss the new standards.

The authority said it considered the need for technical staff, technology-aided testing and the anticipated growth of the vehicles when developing the logistical support for the testing of self-driving cars