The new Executive Regulations of the Federal Traffic Law have approved a mechanism for assessing applicants for a driving licence in the UAE. The regulations specify 15 key criteria for evaluating practical driving skills, either through on-road testing or smart technical systems approved by the licensing authority.

Anyone who scores less than 75% is considered to have failed the test and will be assigned a later date to retake it.

The regulations state that applicants who successfully pass the theoretical examination will undergo a practical driving test conducted and supervised by the licensing authority or an accredited driving education facility.

The 15 assessment criteria are designed to cover all key driving skills, including vehicle control, parking, manoeuvring on slopes and in emergency situations, maintaining safe distances, the correct use of mirrors and indicators, and proper interaction at roundabouts, intersections and in response to examiner instructions.

These criteria include:

  • Starting the engine.
  • Driving the vehicle forwards and backwards in normal and emergency situations and on slopes.
  • Using the transmission correctly when starting and while driving.
  • Performing normal and emergency stops, including on slopes.
  • Parking along a kerb, between vehicles, on slopes, and within designated signs or lines.
  • Changing from one lane to another and turning right and left.
  • Using the required signals at the appropriate time when changing direction or traffic position.
  • Complying with traffic rules, signs and road markings, and responding appropriately to signals from other drivers and instructions from the examiner.
  • Crossing intersections, squares and roundabouts.
  • Turning the vehicle within a limited road space.
  • Overtaking another vehicle and passing oncoming vehicles safely.
  • Leaving and parking the vehicle on elevated areas.
  • Using the parking brake correctly.
  • Using side and rear-view mirrors correctly.
  • Maintaining a sufficient safety distance from the vehicle ahead.
  • The licensing authority may adopt any additional assessment criteria it considers necessary.

Failure criteria

The Executive Regulations stipulate that the licensing authority will allocate specific marks to each test criterion in line with the applicant's level of competence.

Any applicant who fails to achieve at least 75% of the total score will be considered to have failed the test. An applicant may also fail even after achieving the required pass mark if they create an actual or potential danger to themselves or others during the test, or if the risk is avoided only because of the examiner's verbal or physical intervention.

The regulations also identify the following actions as potential hazards:

  • The vehicle's body or wheels coming into contact with designated boundaries or barriers.
  • The vehicle moving unintentionally when starting due to lack of control.
  • Errors when changing gears.
  • Failure to park the vehicle in the designated location.
  • Violating traffic signs and road markings.
  • A motorised bicycle licence applicant touching the ground with their foot while riding.

Theoretical testing

The regulations state that the theoretical examination on traffic rules and road ethics will be conducted using methods approved by the licensing authority, which is responsible for supervising the tests and allocating marks out of a total score of 100.

Any applicant who scores less than 75% of the total marks will be considered to have failed the theoretical test.