Khaberni - The new federal traffic law in the UAE specifies a period of three years as the maximum for suspending the driver's license of traffic offenders, as part of measures to enhance traffic safety on the country's roads.
The law also strengthened the penalty for driving a vehicle with a suspended driver's license to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months and a fine not less than 10,000 dirhams, or one of these two penalties for anyone who drives a vehicle on the road during the suspension period of his license based on an order from the competent court or licensing authority or traffic control authority.
Over the past years, courts in the UAE have convicted a number of drivers for committing traffic offenses on the roads, most notably driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, driving recklessly and endangeringly, and endangering the lives of others.
The federal traffic law, which recently came into effect, also puts other punitive measures in place for traffic offenders. It stipulates that the court may suspend the driver's license held by a convicted individual for a specified period not exceeding three years, deprive him of the right to obtain a renewed license for another period not exceeding two years after the expiration of the suspended license, and also deprive him of the right to obtain a driver's license for a specified period not exceeding three years if he does not hold a driver's license in accordance with the provisions of this decree-law.
The law also mentioned that the order to suspend the driver's license or deprive the right to obtain it results in their inability to operate during the suspension period and prohibits obtaining another license during the period of suspension or deprivation. Submitting an application to obtain a license in violation of these provisions and considering the license obtained in violation as null and void were also highlighted. Nonetheless, the law allows those deprived of obtaining a driver's license to apply to the same court which condemned them to cancel the order of deprivation after six months from the date of conviction.
The law authorized the members of the traffic control authority to arrest any vehicle driver caught in the act of committing any of the following offenses: causing death or injury to a person due to driving the vehicle, causing significant damage to other people's property as a result of driving the vehicle, driving recklessly or in a manner that endangers the public, driving under the influence of alcoholic beverages or any drugs or mental effects or their equivalents, and losing the ability to control the vehicle, refusing to give his name, address, or any official document indicating his personal details or giving a false name or address, in the event of one of the offenses stipulated in this article, attempting to flee in case of an accident damaging the safety of an individual or in case of the stop order issued by a member of the traffic control authority or causing a chase on the road.
