Hands off, future on: Sheikh Hamdan takes self-driving car for a spin in Dubai

Dubai: Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, caught the attention of his followers on Thursday after sharing footage of himself riding in a self-driving car on Dubai roads.

In a video posted on Instagram, Sheikh Hamdan was seen seated inside the autonomous vehicle during a test drive, with no hands on the controls. Captioning the clip, he wrote: “Hands off. Future on.” The short video quickly drew wide attention online.

Mattar Al Tayer, Director General and Chairman of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), was also seen inside the car during the test drive, highlighting the government’s close involvement in the project.

The video comes as Dubai steps up its efforts to reshape urban mobility through smart and sustainable transport solutions. Speaking at the World Government Summit on Wednesday, Al Tayer said the emirate is moving steadily towards a “20-minute city”, where residents can reach work, schools and leisure destinations within 20 minutes.

He said autonomous transport is already becoming part of everyday life in Dubai. “For a long time, taxis were operated by drivers. Today in Dubai, autonomous taxis are becoming part of the daily commute,” Al Tayer told the summit.

Dubai has begun rolling out self-driving taxis, starting with a fleet of 100 vehicles. The plan is to expand this number to more than 1,000 in the near future. The long-term goal, he said, is for 25 per cent of all trips in Dubai to be driverless by 2030.

Alongside autonomous vehicles, the city is also using artificial intelligence to manage traffic and introducing clean-energy buses to reduce emissions and ease congestion.

The test drive shared by Sheikh Hamdan underlines Dubai’s ambition to be at the forefront of future transport, blending technology, sustainability and convenience as the city prepares for the next phase of urban living.