DUBAI: Driving license seekers, who go behind the wheel for the first time, still have to take at least 20 hours of practical lessons before applying for the road test, an official of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) Licensing Agency has confirmed.
At present, a novice learner who does not have a driving license from any country has to take 40 classes of 30 minutes each class at a driving school. But starting next year, the lesson will become one hour. So, technically it will become 20 classes next year for beginner drivers, Khaleej Times quoted Ahmed Hashem Bahrozyan, CEO of the RTA’s Licensing Agency, as saying.
Those possessing their country’s licence which is 2-5 years old have to take 15 classes and those with a licence which is more than 5 years old have to take only 10 classes, the report said.
“We are not changing the number of hours required and we are not adding any cost to the learner,” Bahrozyan reportedly said.
Bahrozyan had earlier said: “Thirty minutes on the road is not enough so we will make it more reasonable and practical for the learner and the driving center. The lesson will become one hour (per class) but we will not change the minimum number of hours required – this is more of an organisational set up. The minimum is still 20 hours of road driving and after completing this, the driving school will make an assessment whether or not a student is ready for the road test to be conducted by the RTA.”
“Applicants have different levels of learning. Not everybody learn quickly and some people need more hours to be good at driving,” he was quoted as saying by Khaleej Times.
