Speeding at 200 now face heavy penalty
“What is that fancy figure in the speedometer for if not for occasionally entertaining a fancy?” If that is your line of thinking, stop right in your tracks or you shall be stopped and stripped of a thousand dirhams and your car.
Speeding looks good on the tracks, but not on roads. Dubai Police cracks down heavily on speeding drivers.
Major General Mohammad Al Zafein, Director of the Traffic Department at Dubai Police said that anyone driving at 200 km/h or more will face a fine of AED 1000 along with the confiscation of their car for two months and the case would go to the public prosecution. They could end up behind bars for a month, according to sources. Police will also stop at sight the motorists who push 160 km/h on the road as well as those driving 60 km/h over the assigned speed limit of a particular road. The latter also face impounding of vehicle, heavy fines and prosecution. To put things in perspective, a car speeding at 120 km/h on a road with a speed limit of 60 is in fact en route to trouble.
Stop at sight: Speeding cars at 160 km/h can be stopped by Police on the spot.
Child seats to be a legal requirement
Studies point out that child seats reduce fatalities in crashes by half, and the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has embarked on a massive campaign to spread awareness on the need and usage of child seats.
Training children to use child seats is the parents' responsibility.
According to studies, around 90 per cent of children in the UAE are not strapped in cars and almost 70 per cent of child deaths in the country are caused are caused by road accidents. RTA has proposed to the Ministry of Interior to amend the Traffic Law to make seat belts mandatory. In the initial phase of its implementation, the new law will be applicable to children up to the age of four and fines for non-compliance is expected to be substantial along with black points.
Al Futtaim Motors and Abu Dhabi Police join hands for safety initiatives
Al-Futtaim Motors and the Directorate of Traffic and Patrols at Abu Dhabi have come together to support the activities and initiatives of the Directorate’s ‘Together Programme’ for 2013. Al Futtaim Motors is the Platinum Sponsor for the 29th Gulf Traffic Week.
File picture from Toyota's recent safety campaign for Japanese school children in the UAE.
His Excellency Brigadier Eng. Hussein Ahmad Al Harthi, Director of the Traffic and Patrols Directorate at Abu Dhabi Police said, “Traffic accidents in Abu Dhabi were reduced by 19% during 2012, thanks to the Directorate’s promising initiatives and programmes, and traffic safety has improved by 34%, since the implementation of the Directorate’s plan in 2010.”
The partnership will sustain the social initiatives of the Gulf Traffic Week, under the banner ‘Your Safety Is Our Aim.’ Best Family At Traffic Safety which aims to raise awareness about traffic safety among families; Best School At Traffic Safety which will organize traffic safety related-programs such as traffic light lessons in schools; Best Driver At Road Safety directed at youth and a ‘Best Labor Camp At Traffic Safety’.
