Dubai: All taxi franchise companies and limousine services in Dubai will have to make child car seats available to passengers, a senior Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) official said.
Abdullah Yousuf Al Ali, CEO of Public Transport Agency, RTA, said that taxi franchise companies as well as limousine services have been instructed to have a child car seat available at all times.
A circular to this effect has been distributed to all the franchise companies as well as to limousine companies.
Watch: Confusion cleared! Taxis in Dubai will have to provide child car seats.
The law does not specify the number of child car seats a vehicle is supposed to have.
The RTA’s decision follows the amended Federal Traffic Law that came into effect on July 1 that mandates car child seats for children up to the age of four years. Failure to strap children into car child seats attracts a fine of Dh400.
Taxi drivers have been instructed and trained to remind commuters to use the seat belt before commencing their journey, authorities said.
Gulf News had reported earlier that taxi drivers in Dubai were confused over the implementation of the seat belt law.
With no child seats available in taxis in Dubai, cabbies had expressed concern about dealing with passengers accompanied by children under the age of four. They had urged the authorities to provide clarity.
Mandatory seat belts for all passengers and child seats for children below the age of four are among the key updates to the UAE’s Federal Traffic Law. Earlier, only the driver and the front passenger were required to buckle up.
Child seats were also not mandatory. Now, the driver of a vehicle will be held responsible for passengers buckling up.
Failure to do so will cost the driver Dh400 and four black points.
As the new law took effect, the sale of child car seats across the UAE reflected an upward trend as retailers across the country reported brisk sales.
“We are now selling as many child seats in a day as we did in a week. Many parents said they were buying a child seat because of the law,” a retailer said.
