Self-Driving Car Company Gets First Nationwide License to Operate in United Arab Emirates

Leading autonomous vehicle company WeRide got the first-ever nationwide license to operate its autonomous vehicles in the United Arab Emirates this week.

The Chinese company will be allowed to operate its cars, buses and vans across the country, according to press reports. 

“This is the first national-level autonomous driving license in the Middle East and even globally,” the company said in its press release.

The UAE’s Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced the country’s move in a tweet Monday. “The company will start testing all types of self-driving vehicles in the country, sparking the change in future mobility patterns in the country.”

“The world is changing rapidly. Driving patterns are changing, and life in the country will change rapidly in the coming years.”

Dubai, the UAE’s most populous city, set the goal of making a quarter of its vehicles driverless by 2030, according to WeRide’s press release. Dubai’s Roads and Transit Authority also worked with Cruise, a San Francisco-based subsidiary of General Motors, to test its vehicles in the city.

Some cities in the U.S. also welcome autonomous vehicles, albeit through a more decentralized approach. California, where WeRide holds permits to test its vehicles, requires a more rigorous certification with its Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Utilities Commission, according to TechCrunch. In Arizona, on the other hand, companies only need to self-certify that they can bring themselves to a safe stop in the case of a malfunction. Pittsburgh began allowing driverless Ubers in 2016.

Still there have been an array of problems with the vehicles from accessibility challenges to potential system monitoring failures.

Dubai will host a worldwide conference for self-driving vehicles this September.