  A new universal {\it empirical} function that depends on a single critical
exponent (acceleration exponent) is proposed to describe the scaling behavior
in a dissipative kicked rotator. The scaling formalism is used to describe two
regimes of dissipation: (i) strong dissipation and (ii) weak dissipation. For
case (i) the model exhibits a route to chaos known as period doubling and the
Feigenbaum constant along the bifurcations is obtained. When weak dissipation
is considered the average action as well as its standard deviation are
described using scaling arguments with critical exponents. The universal {\it
empirical} function describes remarkably well a phase transition from limited
to unlimited growth of the average action.
