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46 UAE ‘stunt’ drivers caught

‘Sand-skiing’ was just one of the offences committed by some of the 46 UAE national drivers caught in a single day for reckless driving.

The drivers, all apprehended recently, were charged with a variety of offences, including endangering lives, driving recklessly, and causing excessive noise.

Colonel Saif Muhair, Acting Director of the General Department of Traffic said the traffic support team, assigned to control reckless drivers and illegal violations in desert areas during the weekend, caught the drivers, seized their vehicles and referred them to the Dubai authorities.

He said the police caught many UAE nationals endangering their lives, when they skied on the sand while tied by ropes to their four-wheel drives and bikes. The police seized a Nissan Patrol found dragging a youth, attached to the car by a rope, through the sand, while a bike was found carting a man skiing on a piece of plastic attached by rope. In another case, Saif said the police referred a woman to the police after she intervened to prevent the seizure of a leisure motorbiker who was performing stunts and ‘making fun’ of the police patrol.

The driver of the bike drove on Al Warqa roundabout towards Tripoli road and then on to University City on one wheel.

He said that the police patrol allowed the man to continue driving in order to avoid a potentially deathly police chase, and surrounded the ‘stunt’ man, once he reached a sandy, isolated area.

Meanwhile, a woman, who had no links with the driver came from a nearby tent and shouted abuses at the police, objecting to the seizure of the bike, saying the bike was being driven in a sandy area.

The woman claimed she worked with the police and the bike driver was her husband. But she refused to present her ID, and hence was referred to the police station on charges of refusing to obey the police and using indecent words.

Saif said the police also impounded a car that was being driven so fast that only two wheels remained on the ground.

The driver entered Al Warqa roundabout and started to raise the tyres, making a show in front of the people who had gathered. He was stopped by the police and on interrogation he said he was forced to drive in that manner because he was trying to bend down to fetch his mobile phone which had fallen from his hands.

He claimed that he had no intention of driving recklessly. However, later he confessed that he had driven recklessly, endangering the lives of people.

The driver then objected to the police seizing the car and called the operations room which informed him that the car would be seized as per law. — news@khaleejtimes.com