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Lectures Must for Heavy Vehicle Licence Aspirants

RAS AL KHAIMAH - People applying for licences to drive buses and heavy trucks in the emirate will have to first attend lectures on driving and traffic culture at the RAK Driving Academy before their training classes with effect from January next year, authorities have said.

People applying for licences to ride motorcycles are also required to attend traffic lectures at the academy prior to their training.

Uday Rashid, general coordinator of the RAK Driving Academy, said under the new laws issued by the Traffic and Licensing Department in the emirate, all applicants wishing to obtain licences to drive heavy vehicles will have to register with the academy and attend eight lectures on the basic and fundamental driving principles in addition to the traffic culture, rules and regulations.

He added that these lectures would also cover topics like basic mechanical skills for different vehicles, the importance of fastening seat belts, and driving in the cities and in various weather conditions.

“The lectures would be conducted separately as per the types of licences applied for from 7am to 11pm to cope with the increasing number of applicants in the emirate,” said Rashid.

According to him, a similar system was introduced in October this year for residents applying for licences to drive light vehicles. The system requires the applicants to pass a pre-training oral test before starting the training. The applicants are also required to attend eight lectures of 70 minutes each.

Applicants in the first batch have passed their tests and will soon start their training classes at different driving schools in the emirate.

Colonel Nasser Al Muradad, Director of the Traffic and Licensing Department in RAK, said the system was introduced to provide the new applicants prior knowledge of driving and traffic culture before training.

“With the number of accidents and traffic law violations by motorists increasing everyday, stringent measures and elaborate preparation of new applicants are necessary to reduce the number of bad road users in the future,” said Al Muradad.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com