Dubai: Motorists in Dubai will be able keep impounded vehicles at their own premises instead of leaving it at police-designated impounding yards, Dubai Police said on Sunday.
Brigadier Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, director of the Traffic Department at Dubai Police, told Gulf News that the new ‘Smart Impound’ system will be activated once the technology show Gitex concludes.
“A small device is placed in the impounded vehicle using GPS technology to know if the car is moving or not. It is a smart way to impound the vehicle without the need to bring it to the yard,” Brigadier Al Mazroui said.
The police rolled out the new service and said motorists whose vehicles need to be impounded for traffic violations can now keep their vehicles parked at home through the impoundment period. A team of technicians will come to the house with the small, black device and install it in the car concerned.
“To ensure impounded cars are not driven, a small tracking device service will be installed inside the impounded car so that it alerts the police if the car has moved while serving the impoundment period,” Brigadier Al Mazroui said.
The service will not be free of charge and there will be fees levied to install the device.
The motorist should promise not to drive the vehicle during the impoundment period.
When the device is installed, the car will be visible in red colour on a map in the command room. But if it moves, the colour will change to green. “The device tracks the car all the time and at the end of the impound period we can find out if the driver moved the car or not. We will use this new technology after Gitex week,” he added.
Motorists will also have the option to leave the vehicle in the impound yard. “This step will help reduce number of cars in the impound yard,” the official added.
