How to keep your impounded car at home in Dubai

1.2014376-616195974 — Impounded vehicles at a designated area in Al Ghusais, Dubai. Picture for illustrative purposes only. Image Credit: Virendra Saklani/Gulf News Archives

Dubai: A total of 1,598 cars have used Dubai Police’s smart impound system in January and February this year, an official said on Sunday.

Brigadier Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, director of he Traffic Department at Dubai Police, said the system has allowed motorists “to keep their impounded vehicles at home instead of having them taken to police-designated impound yards".

He said that 6,775 vehicles used the smart impound system last year. The fee for the smart impound is Dh420. “The smart system allows motorists to impound their cars at their own villa or in their own parking lot. Motorists have the other two options which are to impound their vehicles at Dubai Police or the paying impounding fees,” Al Mazroui said.

Procedure

He explained: “After a motorist registers a request to use the smart impound, a team of technicians is sent to the vehicle’s location and a small device is fitted to the car with GPS (global positioning system) technology that will enable the Police to know whether the car has moved or not. The car will be visible on a map in the command room and the device will send a notification if it moves.”

The smart system gives a green light to the impound vehicle after installing the device. If the car moves, then the light turn to red to alert Dubai Police. “The motorist will be notifying with text message that he violated the smart impound roles and will impose a traffic fine before impounding the vehicle at Dubai Police,” added Brig Al Mazroui.