United Arab Emirates is no place for old cars

by amyjudd | September 2, 2008 at 04:06 pm | 574 views | 14 comments | 16 recommendations

In Dubai, the average age of vehicles is just 5.6 years, so the new rule that has just been put in place to start January 1 2009 will not affect many residents.

"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.

From January 1, 2009, traffic departments will stop registering or renewing licences of any vehicle over 20 years old. And in January 2010, any vehicle over 15 years will not be allowed to be registered.

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.

An estimated 67,000 vehicles will come off the road with the aim to reduce pollution and accidents from breakdowns.

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Paschen

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 18:13 on September 2nd, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Now, I do agree to take of the road older car, that pollute more and yet I fail to see the benefit of selling those over sea to pollute some where else. With some luck and good wind the pollution come right back to UAE. It may be more effective and better for the environment to convert the old cars to new engines and with zero emission. Like Hydrogen power.

KentuckyRanger

at 06:10 on September 3rd, 2008

I totally agree about old clunkers needing to be off the Roads, but what about People who've restored old Cars?

Classic Cars are a far cry from Junk, costing Thousands of Dollars to restore.

Also, instead of shipping the old Cars away how about melting them down and recycling them into something useful.

It's far less polluting to recycle Metal than to produce it from it's raw components.

dunkelberg

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 19:03 on September 2nd, 2008

There will be a heckuva market for those cars in other countries (depending on the added costs of shipping, tariffs, bribes and other incidentals).

It would be nice if we could get all the older, polluting cars off the roads. However, here in Texas, where a car is a must in most places, we have many folks who would like to move up to a 15-year-old car if they could afford. Imagine what it's like in other places.

By the way, the bloody government of Dubai could just buy up those old cars and never feel a pinch. If they were strapped, they could put the touch on their newest corporate citizen - Halliburton.

PlanMyGreen

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 21:02 on September 2nd, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. This amazes me. Is every person in Dubai so wealthy that they can afford new vehicles? In a bigger country, this would seriously cause millions of people to lose their ability to drive. Surely less cars means less pollution, but only for the country rich enough to throw away older vehicles. This is not saving any resources as more cars will be purchased and built faster. Just imagine how much pollution to the rest of the world will be caused by importing more cars every year as more and more hit the threshold.

World_Groove

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 21:29 on September 2nd, 2008

WOW! I'd loose most of my fleet !!!

Do you know of any special dispensation for "collectors" vehicles ?

dogwatcher

at 02:49 on September 3rd, 2008

What about the technical heritage? We have quit a lot of fans of old cars.. for the fun of it. Even the the 70years cars have their fans, or the ones of the early 80ies.. (the so-called "youngtimers"), often poperly restored and in good condition.

It would be a real shame to ban these cars (and old motorcycles of course) from the streets..

But I'm afraid with environment protection you can justify anything these days...

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maurizio.teli

at 04:05 on September 3rd, 2008

I took this picture in Croatia, where old cars are quite common. This is a really nice white Renault 4 that reminds me the '70s and the '80s.

maurizio.teli has contributed a photo to this story.

Doms Junk

at 04:30 on September 3rd, 2008

I love older cars its unfortunate about the enviroments condition and how older cars are becoming a dieing breed (unless you are wealthy enough to keep them in tip top condition)
I took this is a picture of my boyfriends car driving down an old road. It now has a new fuel managment system to help with the fuel and emmisions problems.

Doms Junk has contributed a photo to this story.

Doms Junk

at 04:32 on September 3rd, 2008

Shon Ellerton

at 04:53 on September 3rd, 2008

This old car was taken on King William Street in North Adelaide in August 2008. Cars are not inspected annually in South Australia, so you'll find quite a few classics and a few 'bangers' which should simply not be on the road!

Shon Ellerton has contributed a photo to this story.

oliver_gary

at 09:59 on September 3rd, 2008

Well I captured this image whilst on a visit to Oradour-sur-Glane in the Limoges region of France. I was there to Photograph and write a story about what happened there and how it looks now for my ND Photography course. The car is an old Burnt out Jaguar sitting in the exact same place it was torched some 60 years ago. You should read about the story of Oradour as it is a dark, interesting one.

oliver_gary has contributed a photo to this story.

MarkAmsterdam

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 12:30 on September 3rd, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

An exception should be made for the well kept classic cars.These cars are tested on safety regulations every year and mostly used as a second car next to a car for daily use. Low pollution contribution because of low yearly milage.

cmhwilder

at 20:29 on September 5th, 2008

old chevelle sitting off the side of a country road in eastern north carolina

cmhwilder has contributed a photo to this story.

dewil

at 15:36 on September 27th, 2008

Schwimmwagen, Amphibious personell whiecle from WW2.
This is one of four cars in Norway That still floats. There are 150 known cars left in the world of this Schwimmwagen built by Volkswagen during the second world war. This Picture was taken at the SCC event 2008. http://sccevent.com/

dewil has contributed a photo to this story.