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About this tool
UAE road rules for visitors: which side to drive on, speed limits, the zero-alcohol rule, black points and whether your licence is accepted.
This explainer covers what a visitor needs before driving in the United Arab Emirates: you drive on the right in a left-hand-drive car, signs are in km/h, and the blood-alcohol limit is zero rather than merely low. It also settles the question that trips up newcomers most — whether your own licence is accepted depends on your visa status, because a tourist from an approved country may drive a rental car on a home licence while a UAE residence visa holder may not, and it tracks black points against the 24-point suspension threshold.
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The tool asks whether you are a visitor or a resident first, because that is what decides licence acceptance.
No safe-drink arithmetic is offered, only the time until an estimate clears entirely.
See how many points remain before the 24-point threshold suspends a licence.
There is none — the limit is zero. Any detectable alcohol in a driver's blood is the offence, whatever your age or licence type. Penalties include fines in the tens of thousands of dirhams, imprisonment, vehicle impoundment and licence suspension, with deportation possible for an expatriate. Motor insurance is void where alcohol is involved, so the full cost of a collision becomes a personal liability.
As a visitor, yes, if your licence was issued by one of the roughly fifty approved countries — which include the UK, the EU states, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, China and South Africa. If it was not, you need an International Driving Permit carried with the original. The moment you hold a UAE residence visa, however, the foreign licence stops being accepted and you must obtain a UAE licence.
Typically 40 km/h on residential streets, 60 to 80 km/h on urban and arterial roads, and 100 to 120 km/h on inter-city highways, with designated sections of the E11 between Abu Dhabi and Dubai posted at 140 km/h — the highest in the country. Dubai removed its 20 km/h enforcement buffer in 2018 and cameras now trigger at the posted figure, so the safe assumption everywhere is that no grace margin exists.
Twenty-four black points accumulated within a rolling twelve-month period. Individual offences carry different point values on top of their fines, and the most serious ones also allow the vehicle to be impounded on the spot. Fines and points attach to the vehicle's number plate, which is why a rental company can charge you weeks after you have flown home.