Muhair Al Mazroui
More than 8,000 cars have made use of the smart impound system operated by Dubai Police in the United Arab Emirates since it launched last year, according to a Dubai Police official yesterday.
The director of the Traffic Department of Dubai Police, Brigadier Saif Muhair Al Mazroui says that the system enables motorists to have impounded vehicles kept at home instead of being taken to impound yards designated by the police.
Cars that have made use of the system since last year reached a total number of as many as 8,157, according to Al Mazroui.
The smart impound option comes with a fee of Dh420.
Once motorists make their request to be able to make use of the smart impound system, a group of technicians go to the location at which the vehicle is stationed and fit a small device to it that uses GPS technology.
This allows police to keep track of the car and prevent it from being moved without their knowledge.
The system means that motorists no longer have to take their vehicles into the police yard.
The tracking device remains on the car until after the impoundment period has been completely served.
Once the device has been installed on the vehicle, the car can then be seen on a command room map, and if moved, the device will send Dubai Police a notification.
Motorists who are desperate to use their vehicle during the impoundment period do have the option of paying a fee of Dh1,000 a day to have the car freed from impoundment for that time.
96.7% of people who made use of the smart impound system were pleased with the result because of the system’s level of efficiency, according to Dubai Police.
The system began in Dubai in 2017 and was also introduced to Abu Dhabi on 1st June last year.
Vehicles in the UAE can be impounded for a variety of different reasons, including illegal parking, noisy engine modifications, illegally carrying passengers, speeding, or having too dark window tints.
The impounding period can be from as little as just one week to as long as 90 days, and further fines are accumulated in the old system if the owner does not immediately collect their vehicle from the impound yard.
It is also illegal in the United Arab Emirates for a motorist to drive a car if they have not previously taken out some form of even basic third-party car insurance on it.
Car insurance is a necessity in the country and is vital to protect drivers from the otherwise potentially financially devastating consequences of their vehicle being stolen or involved in an accident.
Car insurance can be particularly crucial if a vehicle causes damage to other vehicles on the road due to an accident.
There are a number of different car insurance options open to motorists in the UAE, and some packages also include repairs to vehicles.