So many that we could list.

I am hoping the Al Wasl/Beach Road nonsense will go the same way.

I can confirm that it's on the RTA tender list for the end of 2016.

But I can also confirm that many of the anticipated tenders announced by RTA for 2015 were never released.

Methinks enough influential locals will protest enough and it will quietly go away.

they will probably submit their protest online via a mobile app while driving on the same road.

The whole area is a mess right now. I must have done 5 U turns last night there due to the roadworks.

Well I think it's fairly simple (the implementation, not the development)
Just link the app to your car's Salik tag. Anyone who goes into the RTA to renew the registration will have to go through steps a,b and c to ensure his mobile's app is now linked to his car's Salik tag.
Car won't start if the mobile isn't in the car and the mobile will shut off if it goes over 20
Of course there will be loop holes but hey, it's an idea, and now it's up to the slaves to figure out the nitty grittys!
Great men like me don't bother with details :P

So you use your smart key and "it" somehow makes a Faraday cage around your car so that the GSM "waves" can't access it?

Or that the same key somehow prevents all phones within a given radius from accessing the GSM network?

I don't know what you do but that's not practical, yes it could be done, but at $40,000 premium for the bit of kit to do it, it won't be.

Should have phoned someone for directions.

We're getting there.

You get how if the smart key isn't in the car then the car will not start.
So if the car detects an active phone is in the car, really not that difficult, then the car will not start. Switch off the phone and the car will start.

Limiting it to inside the vehicle is pretty straightforward. Actually not much to it but getting the car manufacturers to add it would be impossible I'm sure.

How about passengers with phones...would they also not be able to use their phone? And GPS, I use my phone for that

You can have the phone off but the GPS on. But it would need to be an offline GPS with the maps on the phone, no Google maps for the most part.

I think it would likely affect all phones in the vehicle. Making a sensor to detect the signal level from a phone inside the car is simple enough but not likely to differentiate between multiple phones in the same car.

A work around would be to return to external antennas. In such a way that radiation inside the vehicle is essentially nil but all your signal comes from the tethered external antenna.

I really can't see this being done. It's viable technically but so is an internet connected hairdryer.

exactly, of all the issues that cause accidents and road deaths here using hands free devices is way way way down the list of problem to address first

There are countless nagged husbands out there secretly wishing for this to become law.

I'm sure there's a snack bar within earshot.

this will never come into force....just imagine all the locals going up in arms over this.


I have hands free in my car and I use it regularly - don't really see the issue, unless you are on the phone for longer than say 10 or so mins.

Do car accidents only happen after 10 mins?

work banned hands free years ago, it's a pleasure to get in the car and switch the bloody thing off