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Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor with Major-General Mohammad Saif Al Zafein, Head of the Federal Traffic Council and Assistant to the Dubai Police Chief for Operations Affairs and others Image Credit: Dubai Police

Dubai: A total of 2,600 motorists will be honoured by Dubai Police for following traffic laws and for having a zero violation record last year, an official said on Monday.

Major-General Mohammad Saif Al Zafein, Head of the Federal Traffic Council and Assistant to the Dubai Police Chief for Operations Affairs, said the white points system is for motorists who have not committed any traffic violations in Dubai for the entire year.

“Every year there is an increase in number of winners. This year, we have chosen 2,600 drivers out of 65,298 eligible motorists for white points system, which was launched in 2012 by Dubai Police. Motorists who have valid driving licences issued from Dubai with vehicles registered in their names can qualify for the white points system,” Major General Al Zafein said.

The 2,600 motorists have been chosen by a random computerised draw.

In 2016, there were 26,740 eligible motorists and police honoured 2,000 of them.

“The white points system has been created to encourage motorists to follow traffic rules and reduce the number of accidents and deaths. It is part of our strategy to reach zero road deaths by 2020.”

Meanwhile, Maj-Gen Al Zafein said that they are working to extend the white point system across UAE by 2019.

“The white point system is one of the factors that helped reduce number of road deaths in Dubai in the recent years. There were 2.5 road deaths recorded in Dubai among 100,000 population last year. We will implement the white point system across UAE by next year,” Maj Gen Al Zafein added.

According to the white points system being implemented in Dubai, each eligible motorist can receive a total of 24 white points a year, two for each month. The points will be calculated at the end of each year. A motorist loses his or her entitlement to the month’s points if he/she has any kind of traffic rule violation recorded during that month regardless of whether the vehicle is driven by the owner or not.

Winners are chosen from those who do not have any traffic fines, including Salik and parking fines. They will receive gifts and vouchers.

Out of 65,298 motorists eligible for receiving white points in 2017, 44,579 were Asians, 9,469 Arabs and 5,337 Europeans and remaining 5.913 from other nationalities.

Car winners

An American motorist and an Emirati woman have won cars this year, sponsored by Al Habtoor Group.