Abu Dhabi: The UAE will introduce within months an advanced system using smart tower radars, fog sensors, and electronic signs to provide early fog and visibility warnings along with reduced speed limits on motorways to avert pile-ups, a top official told the Federal National Council on Tuesday.
Shaikh Saif said the advanced system, which will provide early hazard warnings live on the radio, cellphones and via electronic signs on the motorway, will shortly be tested in Abu Dhabi.
“After the trial phase, the advanced system will be set up across the UAE within months,” Shaikh Saif said as he was reviewing the Interior Ministry’s policies and plans during a meeting of the House.
Caring for citizens
He also said he was proud of the UAE’s leadership and the way it constantly cared for its citizens, especially when in need of help.
“Police in the UAE tracked London robbers through credit cards stolen from an Emirati citizen. Suspects were tracked in shops in the UK and Scotland Yard police were alerted and the suspects were apprehended,” Shaikh Saif said.
He also spoke of plans for the police to take an average of four minutes to respond to distress calls, without giving a time frame.
Brigadier Gaith Hassan Al Za’abi, Director-General of the Traffic Coordination Department at the Ministry of Interior, told the FNC road deaths and casualties registered in the UAE, during the first quarter of the year decreased by 6.3 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively.
He said road accidents that occurred in the same period this year decreased by 4.3 per cent compared with the same period of 2013.
He attributed the decrease in traffic accidents and the related deaths and casualties to the efficiency of the procedures adopted by the Ministry, and the efforts of the Police General Headquarters and the directorates of traffic and patrols in the UAE to improve traffic safety, through the Ministry’s strategy to control road security, and create a safe traffic environment according to international standards.
School bus tracking
Shaikh Saif spoke of a school bus tracking system to provide a safe way for children to go to and from schools across the country.
The unique tracking system, Shaikh Saif said, will monitor the speed, direction and route of buses to keep track of children.
A pilot scheme will test the system in Abu Dhabi, which will see thousands of school buses being fitted with GPS, CCTV cameras and pupils and staff on board being provided with ID to allow operation rooms — and eventually parents to track their children and be assured of their safety.
The system is scheduled to be fully operational across the country at the beginning of the next academic year.
Shaikh Saif told the House authorities were still considering lowering the driving age to 16 or 17.
He said it was yet to be decided what the new minimum age limit to obtain a driving licence will be. “The decision regarding the reduction of the legal age limit will be taken within a legal and procedural framework that ensures public safety. The decision will help families who are reliant on those under 18 to run household errands.”
The current minimum driving age is 18 years, but people are allowed to apply for driving licences at the age of 17 years and six months so they can obtain their licence when they turn 18.
