Abu Dhabi - Driving even 1km over the new limit of 120kmph will incur a fine of Dh1,000.
Published: Sun 12 Aug 2018, 10:56 PM
From today, motorists have to slow down in Abu Dhabi as radars were reset as per the amended speeds on the roads.
Last month, the Abu Dhabi Police and Department of Transport announced the scrapping of 20km speed limit buffer on the roads of Abu Dhabi from August 12 in its efforts to curb the road fatalities and educate the public on the importance of road safety.
Earlier, motorists were allowed to drive at 140kmph on a 120kmph speed zone, but from Sunday, as per the amended rule, driving even 1km over the new limit of 120kmph will incur a fine of Dh1,000.
On Saturday, the police have urged motorists to stick to the amended speed limits and avoid fines. In January, the police revealed that speeding topped the list of traffic violations, which comprised 79.8 per cent of the total fines. Besides, speeding caused the death of 230 people out of the total 525 road fatalities in the UAE. However, the officials have not yet revealed the total number of speeding tickets slapped on motorists this year.
The police have been running several awareness campaigns on social media platform in Arabic, English, Filipino and Malayalam informing residents about the abolishment of 20kmph speed buffer limit.
And on Saturday, there was a relative slowness among motorists on roads.
Egyptian national Taher Mohamed said the changes will make roads safer. "I am already sticking to 120kmph and not exceeding the limit. I certainly want to avoid any additional fines. I hope everyone follow the new speed limit and the rule is the same for everyone in Abu Dhabi. "
Bilal Khan, a private company driver, said he was eagerly waiting for the covers to go off on new speed limit boards. "What I understand is that 100kmph will go up to 120kmph and you can't exceed that limit by even 1km. No one would dare to do that fearing the fine. I just had Dh1,000 fine last week. I don't want any more in near future," the Indian expat said.
"I felt most motorists were sticking to speed limits today (Saturday) and not pushing the limits of 20kmph extra. I could feel the slowness," he added.
Anas Yaseen, a Jordanian, felt people will end up speeding in first few days. "It will take some days to adjust to new speed limits. People also need to know about radars. There should be a mechanism for people to adjust with new speed limit without getting penalised. However, the buffer was taken for granted. I am fine with the new decision," he said.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com
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