By Mohammed Rashad Hussain, Managing PartnerPublished 4 min read
What is a safe driver service?
A safe driver service sends one person to drive you home in your own car. You call after dinner, the driver arrives by their own means, takes your keys and drives you and your car to your door. Then they leave.
The idea suits someone who has been drinking, or is too tired to drive, and wants the car at home in the morning. In Dubai that usually means a night in Dubai Marina, JBR, DIFC or Downtown, where the car is parked and the evening runs late.
The service is often called a designated driver or a driver to drive my car home. Providers differ in how they work, what they charge and what cover they carry, so ask before you book.
How is it different from a chauffeur or a taxi?
| Safe driver | Chauffeur | Taxi | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whose car | Yours | The company’s | The taxi’s |
| Driver | Arrives separately | Comes with the car | Comes with the car |
| Your car next morning | At home | Still at the venue | Still at the venue |
| Booked | Usually on the night | Usually in advance | Hailed or app |
| Licensing | Ask the provider | RTA permit for luxury passenger transport | RTA taxi franchise |
A taxi and a chauffeur both move you in someone else’s car. We compare them in chauffeur, taxi, Uber or Careem. The safe driver idea only differs on one point: your own car comes home with you.
Is a safe driver service licensed by the RTA?
We could not confirm a specific RTA permit category for a driver-only service. Do not take a provider’s word for it. Ask which authority licenses the company, ask for the trade licence and check the name matches the invoice. RTA’s call centre is on 800 9090 and can say what is required.
A chauffeur company is different. To carry paying passengers in its own luxury cars in Dubai, it needs an RTA permit for Passenger Transport by Luxury Motor Vehicles, on top of its trade licence. Assure is RTA licensed for chauffeur and limousine work. The check list is in what an RTA limousine licence means. It also helps to know how to spot licensed and illegal taxis.
Who is insured if something happens in your own car?
This is the question to ask first. When a stranger drives your car, the accident happens in your car, on your policy.
- A UAE third-party policy pays for injury to any person in the car, passengers included.
- Whether the policy covers damage to your own car while a third party drives it depends on your policy.
- Whether it applies when a company sends the driver, and not you, is a question for your insurer.
Phone your insurer, and get the answer in writing before the first booking. With a chauffeur, the car, the licence and the cover belong to the company, and your own car is parked and untouched.
When a pre-booked chauffeur is the better plan for a night out
A safe driver service is a rescue. A chauffeur is a plan. Compare them on a typical evening:
A dinner at DIFC for 4 friends finishes around 11 pm. They arrived in 2 cars. A safe driver takes one car home, and the other stays parked. A chauffeur in an SUV or a 6-seat van, available through our partner network, subject to availability, takes the whole group to their doors.
Visit Dubai states a zero-tolerance policy on drink-driving, so the decision should be made before the first glass. A pre-booked chauffeur waits outside the venue, and you can ask the driver to hold the car at the entrance for the time you need. Waiting time is confirmed with your quote. Staff outings follow the same logic, and our office party transport guide shows how to organise it for a team.
To rent a car for the day and not hire a driver, read rent a car or hire a chauffeur.
Monthly driver for your own car: is that a third option?
Yes, and it is a different product. A monthly driver is a regular driver who handles school runs, errands and appointments, usually in a car the family or company supplies, or in one supplied with the driver. See the monthly private driver page for how it is set up. Our guide to hiring a personal driver in Dubai covers what to check before you commit.
What does Assure offer?
Assure supplies a licensed car and a driver: by the hour or day through car with driver, for airport and city work through chauffeur service, and as a private driver by the day. If you need someone to drive your own car, message us on WhatsApp and we will say plainly what we can and cannot arrange. More buying advice sits in our guide to hiring a chauffeur in Dubai.
Photos in this guide
A white Rolls-Royce Phantom and two white Mercedes-Benz S-Class cars with Dubai plates outside the Burj Al Arab, with the Jumeirah Beach Hotel behindImre Solt / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Fireworks running down the Burj Khalifa in Downtown Dubai at nightIyesthroughlens / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
A black Mercedes-Benz S-Class saloon parked at the kerbDamian B Oh / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
