From 2027, UAE drivers may not drive more than nine hours in 24
The new federal traffic regulation, in force from 1 January 2027, caps driving at nine hours in any 24-hour period and bars driving when tiredness affects safety.
Anyone who drives in the UAE will have a legal limit on time at the wheel from next year. Under the new executive regulation of the federal traffic law, a driver may not drive for more than nine hours within any 24-hour period, starting on 1 January 2027, Khaleej Times and Time Out Dubai reported on 4 November.
The rule is in Article 7, paragraph 2, of Cabinet Decision No. 174 of 2026, which puts Federal Decree-Law No. 14 of 2024 on traffic into effect. According to the reports, it applies to drivers in general, not only to lorry, bus or taxi drivers, and the Federal Traffic Council may change the number of hours later.
The nine hours are a ceiling, not an allowance. The same provision says no one may drive when fatigue or exhaustion affects their ability to drive safely, so a driver who is too tired must stop even if they have been at the wheel for far less than nine hours.
This is one of several changes in the same regulation, which replaces licensing rules that had been in place since 1997. Earlier this week it was reported that the regulation also limits an individual resident to five licensed vehicles, with an extra fee for each vehicle beyond the second, from the same date. Fatigue is a known risk on the country's long, straight highways: the Ministry of Interior recorded 20 crashes caused by tired or drowsy drivers in 2025, and Dubai Police reminded motorists last week to rest before setting off and to pull over when they feel sleepy.
The published reports do not give a fine for breaking the nine-hour limit, and they do not say how it will be checked for private motorists. Rules on working hours for people who drive for a living, such as delivery riders and lorry drivers, also come from labour law and from their employers.
Nothing changes for you before 1 January 2027. From then, if your job or a long trip keeps you on the road all day, plan to share the driving or split the journey so you stay under nine hours in any 24. RoadSafetyUAE, a road safety group, advises seven to eight hours of sleep before a long drive and a 15-minute break at least every two hours. If your employer sets your driving shifts, ask how it will follow the new limit.