ABU DHABI // A proposal to integrate traffic violations systems in the GCC has been approved by panel members at the 28th annual GCC traffic conference.
Traffic offences incurred in each country will be logged into a common database after a recommendation by the UAE to simplify the payment of fines, officials said.
"If you're visiting from Kuwait and you want to pay your fines based in Kuwait, you can do so without returning to your home country," said Brig Gen Ghaith al Zaabi, the director general for traffic co-ordination at the Ministry of Interior.
Residents will be able to pay fines, no matter where in the Gulf they were incurred, online in any GCC member country.
Brig Gen al Zaabi said this would be particularly helpful for GCC nationals who often travel between countries, and will help to iron out inconsistencies in the system.
"Sometimes an individual may pay his fine he received in one country from another but the fine remains in the system," he said. "Then, when an individual decides to sell his vehicle, the fine is carried forward to the next owner. This new system will help prevent this."
A task force is being organised to review traffic violations systems and the best way to integrate them, after which the proposal will be presented to the ministers of interior of each country, Brig Gen al Zaabi said.
He said the database would also link and standardise vehicle export certificates to prevent the smuggling of stolen cars.
"All vehicles must be cleared before they are exported from a country," Brig Gen al Zaabi said. "By expanding the website to include vehicle certificates, this information can be cross-checked online to make sure an individual is not using a forged document."
An Omani proposal for one GCC classification of licences for motorcycles, private vehicles, heavy vehicles and lorries was also agreed.
"This is to ensure that qualified drivers are operating the appropriate vehicles," Brig Gen al Zaabi said. "For example, we can't have a motorcyclist operating a truck."
In another decision, the region's traffic awareness campaigns will begin at the start of the year rather than GCC Traffic Week in March.
Campaigns will be held at three-month intervals, officials said.
Yesterday was the third and final day of the conference.
