Dubai: Heavy vehicles more than 20 years old will come under greater scrutiny from August with the mandatory installation of tracking devices.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced on Monday that all 20 year old vehicles weighing 2.5 tonnes or above will have to be equipped with telematics devices, failing which the transport operators will face penalties, including non-renewal of vehicle registration.

According to senior official at the RTA the devices will be connected to the authority’s Smart Monitoring Centre, tracking movement of trucks as well as behaviour of drivers.

“The telematics devices will be remotely connected to RTA’s monitoring centre and will track every move of the trucks. We will know when and where a truck is stopping or moving, for how many hours it has been running as well as the exact location of the vehicle,” said Ahmad Hashem Behroozian, CEO of RTA’s Licensing Agency.

The system will also detect faults in the vehicles as well as monitoring driver behaviour.

“The device has a reader which provides us driver information. Our monitors will also indicate if a truck is speeding or if a driver is braking or turning rashly and we will be able to coordinate with road patrols of Dubai Police and reach the driver immediately,” said Behroozian.

In the next phase the device will be linked with another system, which help the authorities gather technical information about the heavy vehicles, averting a potential disaster.

He added that the purpose of such monitoring is to ensure the soundness of vehicles and verify the compliance of drivers with the traffic rules.

“This improves the traffic safety and road security, minimise accidents resulting from malpractices of drivers, and curb the negative impacts of faults sustained by heavy vehicles as well as misconducts on the part of drivers,” he said.

RTA has tied up with a local tech firm to install the devices, which are available at a cost of Dh1,620, while the annual maintenance cost for the system is Dh500.

Beginning Wednesday, transport operators can avail a 15 per cent discount on the device. The offer will last for three months.

An official at the leading transport operator Tristar Transport welcomed the move.

“This initiative is a welcome development because the driving behaviour of heavy duty drivers will be monitored and later on corrected resulting to safe and defensive driving behaviour on the road,” said Mohammad Akbar, general manager for quality and sustainability at Tristar Transport.

He added that 90 to 95 per cent of road accidents happen due to human error and can be prevented by raising awareness and changing behaviours.