Dubai, July 06: Saturday was special for 27-year-old Malek Yousef Iqbal. The Pakistani national — disabled waist-down — finally got a driver’s licence.
Iqbal, a finance manager in the Dubai-based Jacob Fleming Group, is the first to get a licence in Dubai under the Disabled Driving Training Programme launched by Emirates Driving Institute in April.
Indeed, the story of Iqbal, left disadvantaged by a post-polio syndrome when he was just seven months old, is inspiring.
His struggle to get the licence began in April last year. “I went to different driving institutes but they did not have a training option for those handicapped waist down,” he told Khaleej Times. “I approached the RTA and they assured me that things were being worked out.”
Iqbal said things began to speed up in January this year and the Roads and Transport Authority gave him a special permission to buy a car.
“I bought a Toyota Corolla in January and my family helped me get the modifications done from the Sweden-based Swed Adaptations for around Dh9,000,” he said.
In April, EDI joined hands with the RTA, to provide driving lessons to those disabled waist down.
Under the Disabled Driving Training Programme, the first-of-its-kind in the emirate, the EDI gives lessons to those unable to use foot controls. Two EDI cars have been rigged with hand-control systems from Swed Adaptations.
Before the EDI initiative, institutes in the UAE offered driving classes only to those with right leg disability.
“I had to take 30 classes and passed all my tests in one go. I can freely drive my car,” he said.“It is a great feeling.”
–Agencies–