Ramesh Menon's Clicks and Writes

Speed Over 60pc Mark and Your Vehicle Will be Impounded
Amira Agarib for KHALEEJ TIMES 21 October 2008

DUBAI - The Dubai Police will impound on the spot vehicles of motorists driving at 60 per cent more than the fixed speed limits, Brigadier Mohammed Saif Al Zafin, Director of the General Department of Traffic, said on Monday.

The decision is part of a two-week campaign launched by the police on Shaikh Zayed Road on Monday.

The campaign will be extended to other roads in Dubai to catch and fine motorists who speed, he added.

Al Zafin said the two-week campaign was launched against reckless motorists who speed, not leave safe distances between vehicles and overtake other vehicles dangerously, which are the major causes of accidents and deaths.

Traffic patrols would first be deployed between Dubai World Trade Centre roundabout and Mall of the Emirates on Shaikh Zayed Road, and later on other highways.

He said cops will stop the driver, ask for his driving licence and car registration papers and issue him a ticket and if he/she is found speeding by 60 per cent or more of the specified limit, the vehicle will be impounded on the spot.

Al Zafin said he himself had to face a speeding driver recently on Shaikh Zayed Road. The driver followed him without leaving enough space between the cars and kept honking. “I moved to the next lane and the driver of the other car pointed angrily with both hands as if I am the one who is at fault. The motorist did the same with other drivers, so I called the police patrol to catch the man before any accident occurred.

“The police impounded the car of the elderly man who was accompanied by a woman who said he was in a hurry. As many as 19,260 fine tickets were issued for not leaving enough space between vehicles during the last nine months, while 17,625 tickets were issued for reckless driving and 714 tickets for risky driving. Al Zafin said UAE nationals aged between 18 and 28 commit most of the major traffic offences. As many as 211 people died in the first nine months of the current year.