New road signs related to the tram system are being taught to Drivers in DUBAI. The tram system will be at work in November. It will loop around Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Beach Residences, as well as head along Al Sufouh Road past Media City, the Palm Jumeirah and Knowledge Village, among other places.
There have been a number of high-profile road accidents involving trams worldwide in recent months, that is why driving schools in Dubai are instructed by the Roads and Transport Authority to teach drivers about road etiquette related to trams and the new signs warning them where the tracks intersect with the road. The schools have been teaching the tram rules for two weeks now.
This step is the first among others in an education campaign conducted by the authority. It will be extended after that to include existing drivers in Dubai and across the country.
Ahmed Hashem Behroozian, chief executive of the authority’s Licensing Agency talked about this subject. He said: “The tram is a totally different system to the Metro,”
“The Metro has no interaction with road users, whereas with a tram, there are certain areas where the tram route intersects with the road”.
“There will be special traffic lights and signs. People’s knowledge of the tram signs, the signaling and how it all ties together will be very critical.”
The issues drivers will be taught about include the dangers of littering and obstructing the tramway, crossing and entry restrictions, and what the priority tracks for tram movement are. Existing drivers will have more details about this in the next weeks.
In addition, the authority will add several questions to its driving theory test to ensure that drivers have fully studied and understand the new signs and lights.
When will the signs appear on the roads? It is not known yet.
Mr Behroozian said that other departments within the authority would be carrying out a wider awareness campaign to ensure that existing drivers were aware of the rules, and that all people around the country, not only Dubai, are aware of them.
There will be fines for traffic breaches, once the signs are in place, and the tram starts working, Mr Behroozian said, in spite of the fact that he was not aware of the specific amounts.
