Driverless vehicles may hit the UAE roads in 2021 as the nation prepares to become the first country in the world to have regulations on autonomous vehicles, a top official told WAM.
Abdulla Al Maeeni, director general, Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA), said that the organisation will announce the first draft of the standards and regulations for autonomous vehicles during the 5th International Conference on Future Mobility to be held in Dubai.
The conference will discuss the draft, and if it is approved, the UAE will be the first country in the world to have the standards and regulations for autonomous vehicles, he said in an interview on the sidelines of the annual UAE Government Meetings in Abu Dhabi.
The UAE is expected to issue the final standards and regulations in 2020, and accordingly autonomous vehicles may enter the UAE market within one year afterwards by 2021, according to Al Maeeni.
In the WAM report, Al Maeeni also noted that apart from the ESMA’s regulations for autonomous vehicles, relevant authorities in related sectors such as insurance, finance and city administration among others will also have to also issue regulations in this regard.
“The UAE was the first country that formulated standards and regulations for hydrogen cell vehicles and electric cars in the region,” he said. “Likewise, the UAE has been a pioneer in issuing standards and regulations for many products.”
The certifications issued by the ESMA for various products have helped the UAE exporters to enter new markets across the globe, the official revealed.
