Dubai: GCC registered vehicles continue to ignore traffic penalties issued in the UAE with millions of dirhams in fines going unpaid.
This comes despite efforts to link the traffic systems of member countries in a bid to recover the fines.
With thousands of GCC registered vehicles plying on Dubai roads during the Eid holidays, many vehicles could be seen with fine slips attached to the windscreens for illegal parking.
Though the UAE and Oman closely cooperate in collecting fines with penalties issued in either countries reflecting on their respective files, the same cannot be said of other GCC countries.
“We have proposed a GCC-wide traffic system link and hopefully it will be implemented soon. This will make sure that we can collect all the fines due from visiting vehicles,” said Ahmad Hashem Bahroozian, CEO of the Licensing Agency at the Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai.
The emirates currently has a data sharing set up with countries like Saudi Arabia, which includes the exchange of CDs containing details of fines and various violations, but the mechanism hasn’t proved very fruitful in recovering fines.
Violations such as illegal parking and non-payment of Salik tolls is common, but UAE residents say motorists from other GCC countries are generally ignorant about traffic rules, causing problems on the roads.
“It is about time authorities took strict action against GCC motorists. They ignore traffic rules with impunity because they now that they can ignore fines. A mechanism should be devised to collect fines before they leave the country so that they are more careful on roads,” said a Dubai motorist.
Apart from being careless about rules, many visiting GCC motorists are also unaware of paid parking and Salik tolls, which leads to further violations.
“I had parked at the fish market assuming it was free during the holidays but when I got back from shopping at the Gold Souq I got an parking fine. I wasn’t aware that there was no free parking in the area,” said an Saudi Arabian motorist.
But authorities say that visiting motorists get awareness material regarding parking rules and Salik as they enter UAE borders.
