The reduction of speed limit on Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed and Emirates roads is causing trouble for heedless drivers. The limit was reduced to 110 km/h from 120 km/h on October 15 and in the next two days, the Dubai Police issued 70% more fines on these two highways. An ignorant driver got five speed tickets in the meantime and complained police department for their faulty system.
Brigadier Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, director of the Traffic Department at Dubai Police, said, “The Arab motorist works in Abu Dhabi and uses Mohammad Bin Zayed Road every day. He was surprised at the five consecutive fines he accrued from different radars. He was not aware [of the new speed limit] as he does not follow the media or social media and didn’t notice the speed signs,” Brigadier Al Mazroui said.
He told that RTA and Dubai Police used all the mediums; social, print and road signs to aware motorists about the reduction in speed limit. Therefore, ignorance of motorists cannot be blamed on the department.
“It is not acceptable for a driver to complain that he didn’t know about the new speed limit. We will not waive the fines as it’s the driver’s responsibility to keep abreast of the change in speed limits,” he added.
“We issued 4,393 fines [for exceeding the speed limit] on the two roads in two days — 1,707 fines on Emirates Road and 2,686 fines on Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road — because many drivers kept driving as per the former speed limit,” Brigadier Al Mazroui said.
Brigadier said they have reduced the speed limit after an extensive research in order to reduce road accidents.
“It was hard to ban trucks on the two roads even though many accidents involved trucks, so we decided to reduce the speed limit,” he added.