Sharjah: Motorists are once again faced with the recurring problem of getting stuck in heavy traffic jams due to trucks passing illegally through the city during peak hours.
Some of the most congested areas include Al Majaz, Al Khan and Al Taawun while trucks go to and from the industrial areas and from Emirates Road to Sharjah Ports.
According to Sharjah Police, heavy vehicles are banned from using all roads inside Sharjah from 5.30am to 9.30am, 1pm to 3pm and from 5.30pm to 9.30pm. From January to the second week of February, Police have fined as many as 369 trucks for violating traffic rules in Sharjah, which included driving in unauthorised areas.
A police official at the Traffic Department explained that they are constantly deploying Anjad police patrols to monitor the flow of traffic, "and if we see trucks that are passing through the city when they are not supposed to, they will be issued a fine on the spot," he said.
Fines alone won't suffice
Fining trucks, however, provides little comfort to motorists who say that the waiting time in traffic becomes increasingly worse as truck divers are pulled over to the side of the road.
Motorists said that police should take more stringent action against truck drivers passing through the city during rush hour traffic in the evenings, particularly heading from Dubai to Sharjah.
"The traffic is not as awful as it used to be a few years ago, but it is still quite bad. People are already in a bad mood because they are tired and only want to get home and relax. But the commute becomes more stressful when you see trucks lined up on a dual road and causing more traffic than necessary," Jawad Mahmoud, a father of two, said.
Motorists said that while they noticed a small decline in the number of cars on the road, the traffic jams are fuelled by the trucks taking up road space.
"The truck divers are the worst kind of drivers to be behind in a traffic jam because they drive so recklessly. They wait until the last second to brake," another commuter, Saeed Hemed, pointed out.
"I go into Sharjah by taking Al Khan bridge and have not see police issuing any fines to truck drivers. If they were, I don't think the drivers will keep doing the same mistake because it will be costly for their employer. Truck drivers should be informed on when it is or not allowed to drive in the city, and I think it will be a good idea if police carried out a campaign to stop them," Faisal Ahmad said.
