Myusernamewastaken

For someone with a passport issued by a Western country, what biometric information is needed to be provided as a minimum in order to live, work and drive in the UAE without the risk of more serious consequences than a fine? The reason for the wording is that I read about the compulsory "Emirates ID card" but that the maximum penalty for not having such a card is AED 1000. Is the card needed for the initial application for a driving licence?

Millhouse

what a very strange question.

Anyway, they will take your blood, x-ray you, print all your fingers, palms and sides of your hands and finally also scan your eyes to take a print of your retina in order to get a visa. Without the residence visa, you're not getting an emirates ID, driving license, rental agreement, useful bank account or a labour card.

So, to answer your question - aside from anal inspections, you give them pretty much anything you have.

Myusernamewastaken

Ok, thanks. As I think that 1984 should be kept fictitious I think that it's good to be prepared to be personally welcomed by Sheikh Orwell.

al dente

This might not be the place for you. No free speech etc here.

Myusernamewastaken

I know, but that does not bother me much as I don't intend to work politically there.

I don't know if I should admit to this, but on the other hand I think that I would feel less "inhibited" behind the wheel in the UAE.... Mind you that I come from a place where they are extremely strict about that. I intend to drive carefully, but it would be nice not getting the equivalent of an AED 800 fine for driving 500 yards without your seatbelt on. Rant over.

auzdafluff

I really don't understand the stupidity of not wearing your seatbelt.

I mean why on earth would you want to insist on not wearing it?

al dente

You want to rant about being able to drive without your seatbelt. You'll have much in common with the local male populace.

By usual holders of a western passport, we think it to be rather uneducated behaviour.

Myusernamewastaken

I would personally save the word "stupidity" for really stupid things.. I was more referring to it as a freedom, or lack thereof, having to explain before a court of law why you put some extra risk upon yourself only.

I explained and had a reasonable explanation but I guess that the policeman was a little bit annoyed by the "law student" and told the court a fairytale.

Millhouse

you're OK to not wear your seat belt here... better still load the car up with kids and place them on the dashboard or hanging out of the sun roof.

You will be amazed at 'personal freedoms' you will have here that you won't have at home... In return you hand in your civil liberties at the arrival gate.

Meow

If you think that it's OK to drive without a seat belt please don't move here. There are enough thoughtless and arrogant drivers here already.


And if you think you won't get fines when driving, think again.

soukie

Sounds like the OP has something to hide.....

auzdafluff

Huh? The law's black and white. Either you have a seatbelt on, or you get fined. They don't care about individual methods or crack pot theories. It's been proven time and again that seatbelts save lives – and not just those of the driver, but also the passengers.

Personally, I think the second time you get caught without it on, you should lose your licence. Driving is a privilege. Abuse it and lose it.

You do realise in a crash, the human body acts like a brick the same weight as the occupant being thrown at the equivalent speed the car was at at the point of impact at someone. The crash might not kill that person, but the ****ing idiot without his seatbelt on will.

Also, I've see the results of ****wits like yourselves not wearing seatbelts after a crash. Do you really think it's fair for a police officer (in the UK or here) to have to go home with the image of your torso impaled on the steering column and your head lacerated to the point where your scalp is hanging off, all because you didn't want to wear a seatbelt?

Then don't be surprised if we act hostile towards that kind of sentiment.

Millhouse

Stats are great things. I once read an analysis that after the compulsory introduction of seatbelts the number of accidents increased (although the deaths per accident fell)... the total deaths... about the same if not a bit more.

Apparently people drive more dangerously when wearing a belt.

The same person concluded that a 6 inch metal spike coming out of the steering wheel would actually reduce deaths as people would drive bloody cautiously under those conditions.

Imagine the driving here if the locals wore belts!

And before I'm accused of always disagreeing - I always wear a belt and won't move the car forward an inch until everyone (including the maid who would happily not wear one) is belted in.

Myusernamewastaken

It was some years ago and I told the court the seatbelt didn't work. Instead of towing the car (which would probably be more hazardous), where it was you are allowed to drive to the closest repair station. So I did. Unfortunately, the policeman told a fairytale and said that he leaned into the car and checked the seatbelt and found it to be operable. He never did. Unfortunately, only me and him know that for sure. For your information, I sure do use the seatbelt notwithstanding any law imposing it. I'm personally more upset about the policeman telling a fairytale under oath as that might have happened to people really having their freedom taken away unjustifiably for a while as a consequence.

How many threads about cohabitation doesn't exist here and the "how to get away with it". I think that many Westerners in the UAE have something to hide. That might not be pertinent to the biometric information but do you personally completely trust the authorities and that your information will never be misused?

I rather be the police officer in that case.

Sure, it's good if it can be avoided but I don't think that it came as a surprise for the policeman to encounter such situations when choosing the profession. Furthermore, he is paid to do the job. Don't get me wrong, I think that it's wise to use the seatbelt. I just think that it's a personal freedom (I don't give any opinion though if there should be a law imposing it) for any adult to choose whether or not to use the seatbelt in the same way that you are allowed to use a bicycle without a helmet or climbing a mountain.

In Florida, you don't need insurance or a helmet to drive a motorcycle (at least a few years ago). I would personally never drive without both but I can see the benifits of giving individuals the freedom to choose.

oooolivier

Thats a very old debate. The freedom of individuals against the "good" of a society.

Seat belt, drugs, alcohol (which is a drug), owning / using weapons, suicide, smoking, etc.
Actually most of our laws can be considered against individual freedom.
There is no easy way and different countries / cultures have very different responses.

Some of the justifications in favor of the laws / punishments are financial burden (eg diseases caused by smoking), risk to the society stability (eg drug), danger to its citizen or properties (eg speeding, weapons), etc.

For the seatbelt, I believe 99,99% of the people who were NOT wearing it and had a serious accident certainly wished they had. That makes its case rather clear for imposing it, no?