INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Dubai Police: Keep A Clean Driving Record For A Year, Get A Free Car

By Anne Sewell
Published on: 07:43 PST, Aug 1, 2016

Instead of just punishing bad drivers, the Dubai Police created a plan. Drivers who keep their driving record clean for a year get the chance of being given a brand new car. As part of this initiative, police in Dubai have just handed over the keys to two new cars to two drivers who have not committed a traffic offense over the last 12 months.

It turns out the initiative isn’t new and has been running since 2013. Drivers who commit no traffic violations for an entire year and also collect 24 “white points” have been receiving a free car each year since the start. However, a new category was created for motorists between 18 and 21 years of age.

Dubai Police just handed over the keys to two brand new cars to two drivers who have not committed any traffic offenses for a year. It turns out Fatima Darwish Al Emmadi got the grand prize of a Hyundai Veloster, and Knowla Waleed Al Marzouqi was handed the keys to a Hyundai Sonata under the new category.

Reportedly, there are other prizes besides cars in the initiative, and this year, Dubai Police handed various gifts to a total of 1,800 “safe” drivers, including vouchers, which beats last year’s figure of 1,500. The scheme appears to be working.

According to a report by the Khaleej Times, Dubai police implemented the white point system in an effort to encourage drivers to follow the traffic rules and become safer drivers.

This white point system works in several ways, as the points can be redeemed in various incidences and can even be used to cancel some fines, including parking or traffic fines in Dubai or other emirates. White points are achieved by driving without a traffic violation on a motorist’s driving license, or against the vehicle registered under that driver, during the year.

Every eligible driver can earn a total of 24 white points a year, at a rate of two for each month. If they are involved in any kind of traffic violation during a particular month, they lose that eligibility for that month, according to Gulf News.

Of the latest winners, Al Emmadi has had her driving license since 1995 and received her new car from the Dubai Police Chief Lt. Gen. Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina on July 31. She said that while she had made a few mistakes in the past, this year she had a clean slate. She plans to donate the car to a good cause and will be handing it to the Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment.

By encouraging younger drivers to achieve a clean slate on their driving licenses, Dubai Police believes lives will be saved. According to Major-General Mohammed Saif Al Zafin, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of Operations for Dubai Police, this year alone 53 people have been killed in traffic accidents in Dubai, while 46,200 sustained moderate injuries and 262 received minor injuries.

In the first three months of the year, it was drivers between the ages of 18 and 36 who were responsible for the deaths of 31 people and 31 serious injuries, while 19 deaths and 13 injuries were the direct result of traffic violations by people between 37 and 57 years of age.

According to the director of Dubai Traffic Police, Col Safi Muhair Al Mazroui, this is the first initiative of its kind, as most countries tend to punish the violators without thinking of rewarding the law-abiding motorists.

“This initiative thanks those who drive safe and do not put their lives or the lives of others at risk,” Al Mazoui added.

[Image via Flickr by jmbaud74 | Cropped and Resized | CC BY-NC-ND 2.0]

Share this article: Dubai Police: Keep A Clean Driving Record For A Year, Get A Free Car
More from Inquisitr