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29 March 2024

Can you trust driving schools in UAE to register your blood group…

Published
By Majorie van Leijen

It was once suggested by the Ministry of Interior. Today, only some implement the rule; people would not even know their blood type, if you asked them. But when you open a file at a driving school in Sharjah, it is one of the fields that needs to be filled on the registration form.

“This is not because we want to know about your health,” explains a spokesperson of the Traffic and Licensing Department. “But we want to register what blood type you have, in case you are involved in an accident and need blood.”

Previously, the blood type was mentioned on the driving licence, she explains. “I am personally for this. When you are in an accident, your blood type can be discovered right away from your driving licence. But now we would have to look it up in the system.”

Whether the blood type should be mentioned on a driving licence has been a matter of debate a couple of years ago, when the Ministry of Interior suggested the unified driving licence, applicable in all emirates.

“One of the fields suggested to be mentioned on this driving licence would be the blood type of the driver, explains Ahmad Bahrozyan, CEO Licensng of Road and Traffic Authority (RTA) in Dubai.

But the idea was rejected for two main reasons.

“When there is an accident, paramedics can determine the blood type within seconds. Looking for the driving licence might even take longer. Blood type can easily be determined on the site,” says Ahmad.

Furthermore, it was considered a huge risk to depend on the registration of driving schools when it comes to blood types. “Imagine that the blood type is registered incorrectly. It could have a letter or number wrong, and this is very dangerous.”

According to Ahmed the critique against blood type registration by driving schools came from the medical world itself. “They do not want to depend on this registration and much rather determine the blood type themselves, as it can be done in a couple of seconds,” he explains.

Since then, the idea was off the hook for the Ministry of Interior, and most emirates have followed suit. More than a decade ago the rule was reportedly applied in Abu Dhabi, whereas it is no longer required when opening a file in an Abu Dhabi driving school these days.

In Sharjah rules have changed, too, as the licence is no longer the source of reference. “But we register it, and we share the data with Sharjah Immigration,” says the spokesperson of Sharjah Traffic and Licensing.