• Home

Traffic violations spiral in Sharjah

SHARJAH — Traffic violations are reaching pandemic proportions in Sharjah with police officials claiming to have imposed fines in 506,346 cases (97,740 on the spot and 408,606 in absentia). They also impounded 2,012 vehicles in the last six months for various violations.

The trend is being attributed to the increase in the number of vehicles as a greater number of people are moving to the emirate because of lower rents.

With the increase in the number of vehicles, the emirate’s roads are becoming more congested, especially the highway connecting Sharjah and Dubai.

A large number of Sharjah residents travel to Dubai for work every day. Impatient motorists who take short cuts to save time or to avoid traffic jams are among the majority of traffic rules violators, said sources in Sharjah Police.

In a bid to curb the problem, Sharjah Police launched an evening traffic patrol campaign last week. The campaign was part of its three-year comprehensive campaign to tackle the traffic problem. Several motorists were caught off-guard and fined.

Sharjah Police patrols hit the busy roads of the emirate mostly in the evenings to crack down on violators of traffic rules and to control the movement of vehicles as part of their campaign.

Abdullah Mubarak Al Gukhan, Director of Operations Department, Sharjah Police, said: “Overtaking from the right is the most popular traffic violation and it takes no time for police patrol to detect violators.”

Salah Abdullah Adam, a traffic patrol officer, said the response of violators to police fines varies from prompt acceptance to outright rejection, but police personnel are trained to handle even the most stubborn of violators.