Where on our planet is the world’s first and only Ferrari-branded theme park? Why, Abu Dhabi of course. And if Ferrari World Abu Dhabi is anything to go by, the inhabitants of this emirate love their cars, especially performance vehicles.
In just three years the roads network of Abu Dhabi increased by 9199km, from 17,842km of roads to 27,041km in the emirate; that is an increase of 51%. This might account for the fact that congestion in Abu Dhabi stood at a respectable 10% in 2019 according to the GPS company TomTom.
At the same time traffic accidents have been going down. In 2018, the number of fatalities in road accidents decreased by 25%, down from 199 to 149. This promising situation was due to the Abu Dhabi Traffic Safety Strategy 2016-2020, according to Major General Ali Khalfan Al Dhaheri of the Abu Dhabi Police (ADP). This strategy included working to improve traffic safety systems, traffic calming measures, and improving coordination at the ADP’s command and control centers.
As well as efficient road system, Abu Dhabi also has well organized motor insurance industry. In order to restrict inflated insurance premiums, the UAE Insurance Authority has set price limits on all vehicle insurance. The Insurance Authority also issued a statement in 2020 that damage to vehicles caused by flooding and record-breaking rainfall would be covered by most insurance policies unless “a resolution issued by the competent authorities consider the heavy rains a flood situation”.
In an effort to enforce car insurance renewal, motor traffic is scanned and vehicles without insurance outside the 30-day grace period are fined Dh 500 and given four black points on their White Points record. This scanning of illegal vehicles is part of Abu Dhabi’s ‘smart roads’ network, which uses automatic and digital technology to monitor traffic. This includes the introduction of fixed radars to catch tailgaters on the emirate’s roads.
This adoption of smart technology has been extended to using AI in a new Smart Driving Test. This new software monitors and evaluates test subjects and then directly feeds back the information to their ADP driver’s file.
The Abu Dhabi government created an online one-stop shop for all their services called TAMM. The site includes a section devoted to vehicles and transportation, where you will find information about taking driving lessons and getting a license, traffic violations and accidents, vehicle registration and plates, parking and every else you might need to do with your car in Abu Dhabi.