Dubai: Women drivers on the rise; less involved in road accidents
There is a noticeable increase in the number of female drivers in Dubai, which is in tandem with the overall socio-economic patterns and movements within the emirate.
Dubai is witnessing an unprecedented rise in patriarchal centers of power being challenged. Cumulatively, in Dubai alone, women accounted for 105,568 licenses while men were issued a mere 6,903 in driving licenses.
The interior ministry of the UAE has made available open data that marks the 161,704 new licenses women were issued in the year 2024 alongside the 221,382 new licenses given to men across the UAE.
Under data empires, the official numbers stand at 383,086 newly issued licenses across the UAE in 2024. women accounted for 161,704 and men 221,382.
Employees of other Emirates noted the sudden surge in male issued licenses. In Abu Dhabi’s region, new licenses clocked in at 147,334. Female drivers received a total of 26,971 new licenses while men exited with a stunning 120,363.
Sharjah noted new licenses surging to 65,195 with 15,653 granted to women and the stark majority of 49,542 to men.
Women and Driving Safety
Women in the UAE are statistically less involved in road accidents. This is because they use better time management and, to a lesser extent, exhibit safer driving behaviour in relation to seatbelt usage, road rage, mobile phone usage, and anger.
Women also adhere to the rules of the road as well as showing less aggression to other drivers.
According to some research done, men tend to feature more prominently in accident and violation statistics while women tend to show a lack of presence in most traffic offenses.
As said on RoadSafetyUAE, “Women drivers often don’t receive the due appreciation for their driving behaviour. Gender prejudice still seems to play a role; however, an overall, more careful attitude can be observed while analyzing the behavior of UAE lady drivers in most of the critical dimensions of safe driving.”
Traffic Driving
Speaking to 27 year old Halima, a Dubai resident who got her driver’s licence in 2016, she claims that she obeys traffic laws and prioritizes safety while driving.
“I don’t get many fines within a year; if anything, it’s usually up to four. I pay them as soon as I get them because I dislike letting them pile up,” she explained.
“The commute for traffic is another one of her problems on a daily basis. That is the route from her house in Al Barsha to her job in Deira,'' Halima added.
“Traffic is very annoying, and overall maddening in some cases. Plenty of people go into the lane where there isn’t enough room to accommodate them. I normally just honk around five times, I heavily prioritize my safety,” she said.
While driving over the years, she said that she has had two minor traffic accidents, both of which were not her fault.
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