Dubai unveils high-tech revolution in driving test process

Dubai’s transport authority has unveiled the Smart Yard, a new high-tech initiative to revolutionise the way people take their driving tests.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said in a statement that the Smart Yard for testing driver licence applicants is located at Dubai Driving Centre, Al Khail Branch, Al Quoz Industrial Area.

The test will use new technology on board a vehicle fitted with a manual gear and is part of RTA’s endeavours to keep pace with the Smart City initiative of Dubai Government.

The RTA added that the system is the first of its kind in the world. 

Ahmed Bahrozyan, CEO of RTA’s Licensing Agency, said: “The testing of drivers on a Smart Yard is one of the key projects undertaken by RTA with the aim of converting drivers testing vehicles into smart vehicles capable of detecting testing manoeuvre spots and gauging the driver’s response to each of them.

“Such vehicles are fitted with powerful cameras and sensors linked to a central processor capable of capturing various information and automatically calculating errors made.”

The testing vehicle has an onboard tablet to explain the manoeuvres through voice instructions at the time of testing in addition to a host of functions usable during the training phase, he added. 

The testing yard is fitted with a watch tower enabling the monitoring of multiple vehicles at a time while maintaining records of each testing process.

The RTA first launched a trial run of the Smart Yard initiative during the UAE Innovation Week last month. 

According to previous statements, the yard test has five components – parallel parking, roadside parking (60 degrees inclination), garage parking, slope (hill), and sudden braking.

Among the advantages of the smart testing yard is that the examiner can monitor more than one examinee at a time.