Dubai, UAE – Dubai has issued a law to regulate the operations of autonomous vehicles in the city. The new law aims to accelerate the city’s smart mobility transformation, attract investments in the sector and provide a regulatory environment that facilitates the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in transportation.
The new law is part of efforts to transform Dubai into “a model for cities of the future and the best city in the world to live, work and visit.”
The law outlines the responsibilities of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in regulating the sector, which includes developing strategic plans and policies to improve the operations of autonomous vehicles in Dubai, identifying categories of autonomous vehicles, and setting technical, operational and safety benchmarks for the vehicles.
The Authority is also responsible for demarcating the roads, areas, and routes that autonomous vehicles operate in, setting their speed limits, and providing the framework for managing other aspects of their operations. RTA is also tasked with developing the infrastructure necessary for the operation of autonomous vehicles and the traffic solutions necessary to ensure road safety and avoid traffic disruptions, among others.
The authority is also tasked with issuing licenses for autonomous vehicles, specifying the conditions for obtaining a license for activities related to autonomous vehicles. Key requirements for the registration of autonomous vehicles include passing RTA’s technical test and having the technological capability to read road signs.
The law specifies that the sale and transfer of autonomous vehicles in Dubai should only be done through authorized agents. The transfer of vehicles from one operator to another is subject to RTA’s pre-approval.
Violators of the provisions of the Law face fines between AED500 and AED20,000, which could be doubled in case of repeat violations in the same year. The maximum fine for violations is AED50,000.