Over 500,000 drivers in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates were able to maintain a clean licence, 80% of whom were women.
On Monday, Dubai Police revealed the data from a 2019 road safety initiative to reward motorists for good driving by offering discounts on previously recorded traffic fines, and women proved to be the most keen to take advantage.
Around 557,430 drivers were given discounts on their traffic fines as they did not commit another offence, and of that number, women accounted for 80%, with a total of 444,661.
Dubai Police launched the scheme in February 2019 and it was renewed for a further 12 months on Monday.
The initiative enables drivers to enjoy a 25% discount on traffic fines if they do not break any further traffic laws for three months.
A 50% discount is given to drivers who keep obeying the rules for six months, and a 75% discount is given to those who are able to do the same for nine months.
Drivers who are able to go a full year without having committed any more traffic offences will have their fines completely removed.
A total of Dh547m was saved by motorists as a result of the scheme, according to Dubai Police’s traffic department deputy director Colonel Jumaa Bin Suwaidan.
The initiative also helped to cut road traffic deaths by as much as 16%, a police survey has revealed, and there was a corresponding 38% fall in serious accident figures when compared to the same time period in the previous year.
Because there were fewer road accidents, there were also lower medical bills, repair expenses for damaged vehicles and roads and emergency transport costs.
As much as Dh610m was saved in treatment and repair costs by the scheme because costly damages always result from accidents, Bin Suwaidan says.
In 2019, Dubai Police confirmed that motorists would be able to get a full discount as they could renew their car licence without having to pay off fines that they had previously accumulated.
Police were contacted by residents who were concerned that they would not be eligible to get the 100% discount if they could not renew their licence during the 12 months without paying off their traffic fines.
The Ministry of Interior may soon launch a similar initiative all over the UAE in order to provide all the nation’s drivers with an incentive to practice safer driving, according to Bin Suwaidan.
The director general of the artificial intelligence department of Dubai Police, Brigadier Khalid Al Razooqi, says that there was no application process because there is an automatic calculation of all discounts.
The best drivers were Jordanian, with 176,987 having fine reductions, accounting for a third of all those to benefit from the scheme.
This was followed by 164,976 drivers from the Philippines (30%) and 128,553 drivers from India (23%).
Anyone who is driving in the UAE needs to take out car insurance in order to be protected from the financial consequences of accidents, damage and car theft.