[Driving in the UAE] Parking Tests Go Fully Automated – RTA

[Driving in the UAE] Parking Tests Go Fully Automated – RTA

Living in the UAE is like no other because everyday living has become optimized to offer the best conditions for residents to function at their fullest through the help of innovation and technology. This has been the vision of the government in terms of providing solutions for the people, to uphold their interests and boost overall happiness.

This time around, the vision will now be extended to routine activities such as driving, to ensure safety and proper training for drivers in the UAE.

[Driving in the UAE] Parking Tests Go Fully Automated – RTA
Credits: RTA

RTA Announces Use of Automated Parking Tests for Student Drivers in UAE

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced a new initiative that will fully automate parking tests in the country, as shared in a report by the Khaleej Times.

Through the ‘Smart Yard’ initiative, student drivers can test their skills in parallel, side and garage parking and sudden braking will be judged by cameras and sensors installed in ‘smart vehicles’.

In Dubai, drivers take three kinds of test prior to gaining a license: theoretical, yard, and road.

According to the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), the new initiative assesses the five-manoeuvre yard test and matches the moves automatically to the approved testing standards – without human intervention.

This reduces the error margin in taking the ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ decision, as it generally improves safety practices with the use of technology to avoid road accidents, which record among the leading causes of injuries and deaths in the country.

According to Khaled Alsalehi, director of drivers training and qualification department, “The system has been applied to 15 testing yards in Dubai, and 108,603 smart testing processes have been completed.”

The ‘Smart Yard’ is fitted with five surveillance cameras – four outside the testing vehicle to guide the examinee and one on board to verify his/her identity.

Through the new initiative, the RTA shares that they will overcome another challenge, where some examinees claim that results of their tests were sometimes impacted by different perceptions of examiners about mistakes.

Through the technology set in place, drivers can now focus more on their skills and decision-making to fully perform what is expected of them in certain situations on the road, or elsewhere.

This will also enforce impartial ruling on standards of behaviour out on the road, which, if successful, can help curb incidences of road accidents in the country.

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