UAE's new traffic rules to limit motorists who drive for a living to nine hours per day

UAE motorists must not drive for more than nine hours within a 24-hour period under traffic regulations due to take effect on January 1 next year.

They are also prohibited from driving if they are tired or exhausted enough for it to affect their ability to drive safely. The restrictions are among requirements introduced under cabinet decision no 174 of 2026. They allow the Federal Traffic Council to amend the driving-hours limit.

Traffic safety expert Mustafa Aldah told The National: “I feel that this is the first step towards better regulation of this sector of the economy.” He said the launch of rail services meant less dependence on road freight, but the regulations could reduce fatal lorry and bus crashes.

“We have a big section of drivers on the road that drive for a living. I hope this is the start of differentiating between driving for work and driving for personal reasons. That needs to be a chain of responsibility: it starts with a driver and ends with the owner or director of the company.

“If a driver unsafe actions or is given unsafe vehicles or tools to do the job, it needs to go up the chain. Only when executives and owners become personally responsible will things change,” he said.

He said that some countries, such as the UK and Australia, have strict time allowances and rest periods for heavy vehicle drivers.

Show caption: The regulations are designed to improve road safety in the U…

“Drivers are monitored by tachographs installed inside trucks. Tampering with them can have serious consequences,” he said. “They can also be checked by police at any time when pulling a truck over. This, combined with comprehensive speed limiters on all heavy vehicles mean the nature and number of heavy vehicle crashes remains small and manageable.”

The National has requested clarification on whether the UAE driving time limit applies in the same way to individual motorists as taxi, bus and lorry drivers, as well as delivery riders.

Care in the conditions

The regulations also prohibit driving under the influence of drugs, psychotropic substances, alcohol or similar intoxicants, and reinforce the need to adjust speed according to road and weather conditions.

Motorists must comply with posted speed limits, with exceptions for emergency vehicles responding to urgent calls and drivers transporting an injured person or someone in a critical medical condition. Those exceptions are subject to safety conditions.

“Drivers must not endanger others and must use the necessary warning lights and signals,” said the law.

Motorists must take account of traffic, visibility and the condition and load of their vehicles when monitoring their speed.

The regulation also introduces driving licence validity periods based on age and nationality.

Once temporary licence holders reach 21, or when those who received their first licence at 21 or older renew it, those issued to UAE and GCC nationals will be valid for 10 years, while those issued to expatriate residents will be valid for five years.

The new law sets out eyesight standards for different categories of drivers. Stricter requirements apply to drivers of light and heavy buses and operators of light and heavy machinery. Licensing authorities may also accept eyesight examination reports issued outside the UAE to allow drivers with expired licences to renew them.