Otherwise, it means exporting them to somewhere else, or scrapped.
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UAE no place for old cars
Dubai: The average age of vehicles on Dubai roads is just 5.6 years, therefore the new rule to discard 20-year-old vehicles will not have much impact on motorists, a senior official said.
"There are only 10,277 vehicles that are 20 years old and that will be taken off the when the new rule comes into effect from January 2009," Sultan Abdullah Al Marzouqi, acting director of the Vehicles Licensing Department at the Licensing Agency of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), said.
Al Marzouqi told Gulf News the average age of vehicles in Dubai is much lower than in many countries due to the strong purchasing power of residents and the trend to drive new vehicles, which is considered a status symbol.
According to a study conducted by the RTA, the average age of vehicles on roads in the UK is 6.7 years, it is 8 years in the US, 10.3 years in Australia and 15 years in Bulgaria.
From January 1, 2009, traffic departments across the emirates will stop registering or renewing licences of vehicles older than 20 years, according to a recently announced Federal Law.
From January 2010, vehicles older than 15 years will not be registered and licences not renewed.
Also, motorists with 10-year-old vehicles will not be able to transfer ownership, but they will be able to renew it in their names.
"They will have the option either to scrap the 20-year old vehicles or export them to other countries," Al Marzouqi said.
Once the rule is in place, more than 67,000 out of an estimated 1.8 million vehicles across all the emirates will be taken off the road from next year.
The number of registered vehicles in Dubai reached 853,827 in 2007, compared to 739,547 in 2006, an increase of more than 114,000 vehicles in one year.
"I believe the rule will not affect the majority of motorists for years to come as only 10 per cent of cars are older than 10 years, and some 82 per cent of cars are between one and five years old," Al Marzouqi said.
He said the aim with the rule is to reduce pollution and accidents because mostly old vehicles break down, causing problems.
He said even used-car showroom owners will not be afffected much as the average age of cars sold by them in Dubai is 3.7 years.
The new rule stipulates that only vintage and classic vehicles that are more than 20 years old, will be allowed to be registered or have their licences renewed. "We are working on the plan to make rules about vintage and classic cars. We will have a dedicated section in the Licensing Agency to decide whether a vehicle is classic before registering it," said Al Marzouqi.
Worldwide: Average vehicle age
* Dubai 5.6 years
* UK 6.7 years
* US 8 years
* Australia 10.3 years
* Bulgaria 15 years
Banned
* From December 1, 2008, cars older than 20 years
* Import of cars older than 5 years
* Import of heavy vehicles older than 7 years
* Taxis older than 5 years
* Ownership transfer of light vehicles older than 10 years
* From January 1, 2010, cars older than 15 years
http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Traffic_ ... 41388.html
