Devices to put brakes on taxi drivers

ABU DHABI // Taxi drivers will be prevented from exceeding 120kph with the introduction of speed-limiting devices in their vehicles. By the end of the month all seven firms operating the newer silver taxis will have to fit their cars with the devices, which will keep the vehicles below the national speed limit. Gold and white taxis, which are being slowly phased out, are exempt. The emirate's taxi regulator, TransAD, said the devices would prevent crashes.

The system was welcomed by taxi firm managers. "The main thing we are ensuring is the safety of the driver as well as the passengers, because we see so many of the accidents occur due to high speed only," said Yousuf Hussain, operations manager for Abu Dhabi's branch of Cars Taxi. "If he is doing 170kph then just a small diversion, another taxi, another vehicle, he can be in a bad accident. At the same time we ensure the safety of the passenger because they sometimes force the drivers to go more than 120kph."

The device will limit the flow of fuel to the vehicle's engine when 116kph is reached, causing the car to level out at 120kph. On the emirate's motorways, where many drivers travel at speeds exceeding 160kph, the move would leave a taxi driver with little choice but to stick to the slower lanes. "For the guys doing Al Ain trips, Dubai trips, it might be a bit boring," said Quentin Fulljames-Curtis, the taxi and limousine adviser for TransAD. "But that is the limit, let's see what the effect is on the accident rate."

A driver can override the system for 10 seconds by pressing an overdrive button located near the car radio controls or on the gear shift, allowing them to accelerate when they need to. Taxi drivers could in theory hit the booster button continuously, but the companies are able to track the number of times it is pressed and could reprimand those who over-use it. Up until now, companies have only been able to check a driver's top speed at the end of a shift and sanction them for going too fast. A driver with the taxi firm, Tawasul Taxi, who asked not to be named, admitted he had been pressured by passengers to exceed the speed limit on the motorways.

"I have been doing only 120 and the passenger is like this, 'I have a meeting there, please make 140'," he said. "I tell them it is very dangerous, but they do request." Mr Hussain said limiters were already installed in Cars Taxi operating in other emirates, with positive results. While he said no vehicles had been involved in major crashes in Abu Dhabi, Cars Taxi has punished a few drivers caught doing more than 140kph, and in some cases 160kph.

About three per cent of the company's taxi drivers make a trip on a motorway each day, Mr Hussain said. The average length of a trip for taxis in Abu Dhabi is 5.1km. The move is the latest improvement for cabs in Abu Dhabi, as the Government seeks to modernise the emirate's taxi fleet and create an integrated transport system. Silver taxis are also being fitted with infrared motion sensors or seat sensors that start the meter running automatically once a passenger is seated. Global positioning devices are also being installed and a call centre booking system is being tested.

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