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RTA Bans Registration of steering Modified Vehicles

DUBAI — The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai has banned the registration and licensing of vehicles with modified steering in a move to curb accidents.

After-market altered vehicles are modified without proper safety and these modifications can result in accidents, leading to serious and unexpected injuries, said an official from the authority while commenting on the recent ban on vehicles with steering wheels shifted from right to left
for local use.

As a rule, the UAE and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries follow the right-hand traffic rule which requires the vehicle configurations, including the steering wheel to be located on the left hand side.

Mohammed Abdul Karim, director of Vehicle Licensing at the authority, said any alteration done to a vehicle aftermarket can be highly dangerous both for drivers and road users.

“Most commonly seen is whenever there is a crash such modified vehicles are blown to bits due to the possible sub-standard parts used during the shifting process,” Karim said.

He, however, said that there was no record of the number of accidents caused due to the alteration.

“Police reports do not exactly go in detail to specify why the
accident may have occurred,” he 
pointed out.

The ban includes all vehicles with shifted right-hand steering wheels whether the shift was done in the country of origin or the UAE.

The authority advised the general public to note that such vehicles will not be re-registered in the Dubai. While exporting the vehicle to any GCC country, a note will be added to the export certificate mentioning the switch of the steering wheel.

However, exporting the vehicle to any other country will not be affected.

The official also said that such vehicles, if being transferred from other emirates, will not be registered
in Dubai.

Abu Dhabi had enforced a similar law three years ago.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com