Dubai steps up measures against abandoned cars

Municipality announces new text message warning system to help remove abandoned vehicles from Dubai roads

A dirty, abandoned car parked in Discovery Gardens, Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

Motorists in Dubai who leave their cars parked in the same spot for long periods of time will get a text message warning from municipality before it is removed

The SMS alert system will notify owners to remove their cars or get them cleaned before they are impounded. The new system comes under the municipality's efforts to "maintain city cleanliness."

“Dubai Municipality will change procedures of unwanted vehicles, to facilitate notifying the owners of removing their abandoned vehicles, to preserve the beauty of the city, reserve and respect the residents’ rights to park,” the municipality said on Twitter.

It also shared a video that explained how the system works. Car owners will receive a message giving them a deadline for when to move their car. If the deadline passes without the car being moved, the municipality will impound the vehicle.

The SMS warning system follows the launch of the municipality’s My Vehicle campaign last year, which warned owners their vehicle would be towed away to a scrapyard to prevent the “distortion of the general appearance of the city”.

The scheme saw stickers placed on offending vehicles for 15 days before they were towed away.

If the owner did not come forward after six months, the car would then be sold off at an auction.

“The aim of this campaign is to raise the level of community awareness on the damages done by neglected vehicles, and promote the values of social responsibility in maintaining the sustainability of the public appearance and beauty of public utilities,” said Abdulmajeed Saifaie, director of the waste management department at Dubai Municipality.