Passenger buses in the UAE with a 22-seater capacity need to install speed-control devices as part of new rules implemented by the Emirates Authority for Standardisation & Metrology (Esma). The authority has approved speed-control devices, which lock speed at 100kmph and also regulate the installation of extra seats in a passenger buses.
As per the new standards, isle or middle-row seats will not be permitted and existing buses will have to remove isle seats by March 2013.
Engr Mohammad Saleh Badri, acting Director-General of Esma said: “New passenger buses will automatically have to conform to the safety standards and existing buses will have to make the required changes which are being implemented to raise safety levels and control the incidents of deaths and severe injuries associated with accidents caused by speeding private passengers buses.”
The speed-control device costs Dh1,200 and more than 63,000 vehicles are expected to install the device over the next two months. Fleet owners have time until March 2013 to get the buses installed with the speed limiters.
Buses that do not abide by these new specifications will not be registered. In the UAE, these devices are manufactured by Autograde, a company specialising in production and distribution of road-safety products.
Each day, more than 200 vehicles are installed with the device at more than 50 authorised fitment centres across the ?UAE, which also provide a certificate of conformity. “At this point of time, the regulation is implemented only for the passenger buses. However, going in the near future, there is a possibility for other vehicles to see the mandate being followed,” said Mohamed Ashraf, managing director, Autograde.
The entire installation process is completed in less than an hour and once installed, the driver of a bus can’t tamper with the speed-control device.
“The product is 100 per cent tamper proof and it comes at a nominal cost which is nothing compared to the benefits it offers to the environment, society, fuel and the vehicle itself.”
The new specifications for standards of safety in public buses will be enforced all across UAE and complement the road safety initiatives supported by Dubai Police and the UAE Ministry of Interior
Source : Khaleej Times