Abu Dhabi police in the capital of rich gulf country of UAE have introduced a new type of police patrol in the city streets called 'The Happiness Patrol'.
If you ever get stopped by one of those smiley faced police cars, chances are you are not in trouble but most probably going to be rewarded for your behaviour on the road, in a new carrot over stick approach to encourage safer driving.
The patrol will reward law abiding road users with white points, which can cancel out any black points they have accumulated on their licenses and some lucky drivers will be treated to 'happiness vouchers' too.
Captain Khalid Ahmed Al Muhairi, manager of the project explained to local news papers that his aim is to give road users happiness vouchers which worth up to DH300 ($106.51) for them to use at local shopping centres or even certain service providers such as phone carriers.
Unveiling the happiness patrol vehicles, which are adorned with smiley faces, at Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters, Uhoud Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Happiness (yep, that's really a thing!) said: "We are very proud of this pioneering project as it is consistent with the national charter of happiness and positivity."
Commander-in-Chief of Abu Dhabi Police Major General Mohammad Khalfan Al Rumaithi said "The happiness patrol reflects the vision and aspiration of our wise leadership to make the UAE a global hub of happiness and positivity."
As well as the white points and happiness vouchers, there will be yellow cards as well that will be handed for road users who made minor offences such changing lanes without indicating or parking in an illegal space, these cards could be handed also to those who are crossing the road from undesignated areas .
"For serious offences like speeding and drunk driving, we will issue a fine but as a last resort only. Our priority is giving more vouchers," Captain Al Muhairi said.
#Happy Driving,#UAE launches first traffic #happiness patrol in #AbuDhabi #EmiratesNews #DubaiOneTv https://t.co/Mvki6USU0B pic.twitter.com/J7L6xPSGNn — Dubai One (@DubaiOneTV) November 1, 2016
