Dubai: The number of fines issued by Dubai Traffic Police last month for drink driving has reached a year-long high at 79 cases, Gulf News has learnt.
That figure has almost doubled compared to the same month last year, when 37 violators were fined for drink driving.
And in January this year, the figure stood at 59 violators fined for driving while under the influence.
This comes as Dubai Police urges citizens to abide by traffic laws.
The numbers come from reports issued by Dubai Traffic Police Department on fines for drink driving and other driving misdemeanours since the start of the year.
From January to September this year, 1,758,492 general traffic fines were issued.
This marks a 19 per cent decrease from the same period in 2011, with 1.426, 903 fines handed down.
The penalty for drink driving in the UAE ranges from a fine to a prison sentence or deportation depending on the severity of the case and history of each offender.
In September, across the spectrum of traffic offences, 112,995 traffic fines were issued, 34 per cent less than last year’s figure for the same month, which was 183,986.
The top five traffic violations were exceeding the speed limit by between 21-30 km/h, parking in a non-designated area, obstructing the flow of traffic, not wearing a seat belt and light vehicles not abiding by their lanes.
Fines for exceeding the speed limit by between 21-30 km/h were issued 27,036 times this September, which is a significant decrease from the 71 per cent recorded the same month last year, when it was 95,030.
The September 2012 figure is however higher than that of August by 68 per cent, when it was 16,013.
Exceeding the speed limit by 21-30 km/h has been reported as the most common traffic violation for multiple months.
A total of 9,348 tickets were issued for vehicles parked in a non-designated area in September, which is an almost 50 per cent increase from September last year. The September 2012 figure is also 61 per cent higher than August 2012, when it was 5,801.
As for obstructing the flow of traffic, there were 9,068 fines this September, which is a 35 per cent increase from the 6,680 issued last September and is also a 73 per cent increase from August this year.
Traffic police officers issued 6,236 fines for not wearing a seat belt, last month, which is a 31 per cent increase from September 2011 as well as August, when the fines were 4,755 and 4,740 respectively.
Finally, 5,844 light vehicles were fined for not staying in their respective lanes this September, which is a 46 per cent increase from September last year, when it was 3,990 and even higher than August this year when it was 2,552.
Dubai Police said: “We urge citizens to abide by traffic laws, such as adhereing to the speeds prescribed and not speed, as well as leaving enough distance between vehicles to avoid collisions, fasten seat belts and avoid distractions on the road.”
