UAE | Traffic and Transport

Drivers with clean records to get car insurance discounts

Initiative to promote road safety by rewarding motorists for good driving

  • By Rayeesa Absal, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:00 March 18, 2010
  • Gulf News

Abu Dhabi: Safe drivers in the UAE will soon enjoy discounts from car insurers and could earn up to a year's free insurance if clean traffic records are maintained, officials have disclosed.

Drivers who do not cause any accidents and avoid collecting black points for at least one year will benefit from the scheme designed by authorities to promote traffic safety.

The Ministry of Interior signed a Memorandum of Understanding yesterday with the Emirates Insurance Association (EIA) to make sure safe driving translates into savings for motorists.

This is the first time a reward scheme has been charted rather than relying on traditional methods of penalising drivers for traffic offences.

One year without traffic accidents and black points would mean a 20 per cent reduction in the premium for insurance policies against loss, damage and civil liability. Drivers with a two-year, clean traffic record would receive 25 per cent discount, while the discount will be 30 per cent for a three-year clean record and 35 per cent for four years.

For exemplary drivers who hold clean traffic records for five years, the insurance companies will provide a year's free insurance policy against civil liability, according to the memorandum.

Drivers will need to produce a document from the Interior Ministry certifying that their traffic records are clean in order to avail the discounts.

The move, based on the directives of Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, is in line with the federal government's traffic strategy.

Be safe and save is the message authorities hope to communicate. Giving incentives to drivers who abide by traffic rules and regulations will help reduce accidents and road-related deaths by promoting safety, the ministry said in a statement yesterday.

"Drivers who get involved in an accident but do not cause it need not be worried. They will still hold a clean traffic record," an official explained.

The memorandum was signed between Lieutenant General Saif Abdullah Al Shafa'ar, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior, and Engineer Saleh Bin Rashid Al Daheri, Chairman of the EIA.

Concerned departments will work on a mechanism to link traffic records of motorists to a federal system of insurance companies to facilitate the smooth flow of information.

Incentives available

  • 20 per cent discount for one year without traffic accidents and black points
  • 25 per cent discount for two years without traffic accidents and black points
  • 30 per cent discount for three years without traffic accidents and black points
  • 35 per cent discount for four years without traffic accidents and black points
  • One years' free insurance against civil liability for five years without traffic accidents and black points

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