Road safety in Qatar: provisions and penalties

By David Salt and Emma Higham/Doha

This new initiative to promote road safety builds on the provisions of Decree No (19) of 2007 which sets out the provisions of the Qatar Traffic Law (Traffic Law) which replaced and augmented the provisions of the previous Traffic Law (Law No (13) of 1998).

This article will highlight the material provisions of the Traffic Law and the penalties which may be applied where such provisions are breached or violated.

The Minister with responsibility for the law, its implementation and enforcement is the Minister of Interior.

Terms

Some material definitions set out at the beginning of the Traffic Law include:

lVehicle, being all types of land transportation designed to be pulled on wheels or tracks and a motor vehicle, being a vehicle which operates with an engine, including all kinds of automobile, including cars, minibuses, trucks and taxis.

lDriver, being a person who controls the direction of the vehicle or the animals pulling it.

lPassenger, being a person in a vehicle or getting in or out of it, other than the driver.

lPedestrian, being a person who walks or pushes carriages designed to transport other people, eg. prams, wheelchairs, etc.

lRoad, being any path, whether enclosed or open, where vehicles and/or people can pass either with or without permission.

Registration

All Qatar motor vehicles must be registered with the competent authority in order to operate in compliance with the Traffic Law.  Proof of ownership together with the current registration fees must be submitted before a certificate of registration is issued and for some motor vehicles, eg. taxis, only certain nationalities may apply from time to time. 

Each certificate of registration is assigned a registration number.  Certain motor vehicles are excluded from registration, including vehicles owned by the armed forces, police and tourist or transient vehicles.  In these cases additional insurance requirements may apply.

Licence

All Qatar motor vehicles once registered must be licensed.  In order to obtain a licence the owner of the motor vehicle must prove that the motor vehicle is registered, road worthy and insured. 

Licences for new private use cars are issued for three years and one year thereafter; motor vehicles owned by Qatar Ministries, diplomatic bodies, sporting delegations and any other motor vehicles which the Minister may determine will be licensed for two years.  Licences must be displayed prominently and must be replaced within 30 days of expiry.

It is worth noting that in addition to the motor vehicle requiring a licence, its driver will also require a licence.  Applicants must be Qatari, over 18 years of age, in good health, not convicted of a crime and must have passed the current examination requirements.  Non-Qatari applicants will usually be issued with a licence if they can prove that they are validly working and residing in Qatar. 

Licences for Qataris are issued for 10 years, for non-Qataris five years (renewable) and for the drivers of public transportation vehicles, one year.  There are certain exemptions from this requirement, including holders of:

lLicences issued by the armed forces and police.

lValid licences from Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) member states.

lValid licences from non-GCC jurisdictions provided the licences are produced to the competent authority within fifteen days of the holder entering Qatar and that the competent authority confirms that the holder can drive during the period for which his or her Qatar visa has been issued, eg. for an on-arrival visa, an initial period of 30 days.

lValid international licences, until such time as the person is issued with Qatar residency at which time he or she must apply for a Qatari driving licence.

Licences for both motor vehicles and drivers and proof of registration must be carried by drivers at all times.

Metallic plates

Motor vehicles must display two metallic plates, one at the front and one at the back or, if the motor vehicle is towing another vehicle, at the back of that vehicle.  The Minister shall be responsible for determining the size, shape, colour, etc. of the plates and the fees to purchase them. 

Each plate has a distinctive number assigned to the motor vehicle to which it is attached.  It is important to remember that the plates are the property of Qatar and may not be altered, transferred, disposed of other than as determined by the Minister.  Lost plates must be reported promptly.  Traders in motor vehicles may be issued with any number of provisional plates.

Rules and manner

The Traffic Law contains some 40 detailed articles setting out the responsibility of drivers, passengers and pedestrians on roads. The articles cover matters such as overtaking, lane discipline, negotiating roundabouts, speeding, crossing road junctions, transportation of children, parking and the use of horns and lights. 

Administrative measures

Where a driver breaches any of the provisions of the Traffic Law the competent authority has various means of penalising him or her, including, revocation of driving licence and/or car licence plates for a period not exceeding ninety days. 

In some cases the motor vehicle may be impounded for the same period where the driver is for instance, driving without plates, driving after his or her driver’s licence has been revoked, driving recklessly, being involved in road races or violating traffic signals.

 Impounded motor vehicles will only be returned to the owner when the initial breach has been remedied and any fines paid.   Any motor vehicles impounded for more than six months may be sold and the proceeds used to settle any fines.  Where there is a shortfall the competent authority may pursue the owner using legal means; any excess will be for the account of the owner.

Penalties

In addition to the administrative measures and penalties set out above the Traffic Act provides a point structure for traffic offences.  Serious breaches such as running a red light or driving the wrong way around a roundabout and driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs attract seven or six points, respectively, whereas lesser offences such as creating an obstruction and driving a motor vehicle emitting noxious odours or driving with only one plate attract three points or one point, respectively.

Depending on the number of points a driver collects he or she may have his or her licence revoked.  Revocation is determined on a sliding scale dependant on number of points a driver collects and how many times he or she has reached that number of points, eg. when a driver collects fourteen points for the first time his licence should be revoked for a period of three months which escalates up to revocation for one year when a driver collects eight points for the fourth time. 

Where a driver collects six points for the fifth time his or her licence will be suspended indefinitely until such time as he or she has once again complied with all the licence requirements set out in the Traffic Law subject always to a minimum revocation period of twelve months.

♦ Qatari Laws (save for those issued by the Qatar Financial Centre to regulate internal business) are issued in Arabic and there are no official translations for the purpose of drafting this article, we have used our own translations and interpreted in the context of Qatari regulation and current market practice. If you would like further information, please contact David Salt (david.salt@clydeco.com) or Emma Higham (emma.higham@clydeco.com)