Dubai: Motorists will have to get their vehicles re-tested following accidents to ensure their roadworthiness under strict new rules by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
The rules are part of the new vehicle maintenance and inspection regime, termed Centralised Inspection (CIS), that RTA is currently putting in place.
Under the existing system, vehicles involved in accidents — either minor or major — are allowed back on roads after completion of the necessary repair, without any test of the vehicle’s road worthiness.
“Ensuring roadworthiness of vehicles is important to ensure road safety. Right now we only do annual inspection, which is enough under normal circumstances. But, when a car meets with an accident, there is a big impact on every part of it, which could be catastrophic if the accident is major. Even after repairs, things may not be up to the factory standards, so a test is a must to ensure the vehicle is safe for the motorist as well as for other road users,” said Ahmad Hashem Behroozian, CEO of RTA’s Licensing Agency.
He said the mandatory test will also add value tthe motorist’s expenses and ensure fair play.
“The test results will actually help motorists whether the repair job their vehicle has undergone is done up to the standards or not and if a vehicle fails the workshops will be forced to complete the job according to the standards without extra cost,” he added.
However, not all accident vehicles will have to be retested.
“We are working on this idea of retest right now, but not all vehicles that have met with accidents will be subjected to retest. We will set a clear criteria under which only severe accidents and some special cases will be subjected to the new rule,” he explained.
