Dubai to trial digital vehicle number plates

Vehicles in Dubai will be fitted with digital number plates to inform emergency services of drivers involved in accidents – according to a report by the BBC. The cars will be equipped with smart plates with digital screens, GPS and transmitters for a trial starting next month. Sultan Abdullah al-Marzouqi, head of the vehicle licensing department at Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), said that the plates will make life easier for drivers in Dubai. He added that the initiative will also work out
April 11, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Vehicles in Dubai will be fitted with digital number plates to inform emergency services of drivers involved in accidents – according to a report by the %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external BBC false http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-43710817 false false%>. The cars will be equipped with smart plates with digital screens, GPS and transmitters for a trial starting next month.


Sultan Abdullah al-Marzouqi, head of the vehicle licensing department at 6700 Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), said that the plates will make life easier for drivers in Dubai. He added that the initiative will also work out any potential technological glitches caused by city’s desert climate.

For vehicles involved in a collision, the technology intends to allow real-time communication with other drivers about traffic conditions or any accidents ahead.

These number plates can also change to display an alert if a vehicle or digital plate is stolen.

In addition, fines, parking fees or renewing registration plates will be automatically deducted from users’ accounts. The plates can also be changed using the RTA’s app or website.
 
The final cost of the project is said only to be known after it finishes in November. However, the technology’s ability to allow transport authorities to track drivers has raised concerns about privacy and information security.

UTC

Related Content

  • February 14, 2019
    Ride-hailing and taxi drivers could face tougher criminal checks in England
    Drivers who ply their trade on apps such as Uber could be under greater scrutiny as part of proposals being put forward by the UK government. The potential risk to passengers from the explosion of ride-hailing apps, as private-hire drivers are perceived to receive less thorough vetting – for example, to flag up past convictions – has long been argued. Incidents such as the murders of passengers by a Didi driver in China heightened such concerns - although critics point out that a US Uber driver who ad
    Read More
  • September 3, 2018
    Didi Chuxing issues public apology for death of female passenger
    Chinese ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing has blamed its own ‘vanity’ for lapses in safety which led to the rape and killing of a 20-year-old female passenger. The firm issued a public apology for the incident which took place on 28 August and says it will now prioritise safety over growth. In an emailed statement, Didi founder Cheng Wei and president Jean Liu say: "We see clearly this is because our vanity overtook our original belief. We raced non-stop, riding on the force of breathless expansion and
    Read More
  • April 17, 2019
    Volkswagen tests Level 4 AVs in Hamburg
    Volkswagen Research is testing autonomous vehicles (AVs) at SAE Level 4 in real driving conditions in the German city of Hamburg. The announcement comes as the fall-out from VW’s ‘Dieselgate’ nightmare – when the company was found to have programmed turbocharged direct injection diesel engines to activate their emissions controls for laboratory tests - putters on. This week the company’s former chief executive Martin Winterkorn was charged with fraud for his involvement. But VW has admitted that the scan
    Read More
  • March 28, 2018
    Uber suspended from resuming Arizona self-driving tests
    Arizona’s state governor Doug Ducey has ordered officials to suspend Uber’s right to test autonomous vehicles on local roads pending the outcome of inquiries by national transport safety regulations – in a report from the BBC. It follows a letter that Ducey sent to the car-hailing company in which he stated that there had been an unquestionable failure to make safety the top priority.
    Read More

Highlighted Content