Dubai: Dubai Police are urging motorists who are tailgated or cut in by reckless drivers at high speeds to report dangerous driving immediately by pulling over to the roadside and phoning in the licence plates of the offending vehicles.
Road bullies will face consequences when responsible drivers begin to report incidents that endanger lives of others, police said.
Colonel Jamal Al Bannai, deputy director of the police’s Traffic Department, said tailgating or overtaking in a dangerous way is a serious offence and he encouraged motorists to complain through the official ‘We Are All Policemen’ programme.
“If someone is tailgating your car or overtakes you in a dangerous way, then you can go to the side of the road and call police on the 901 non-emergency number. We have cameras on most of the roads and we can check if the offence happened or not,” Col Al Bannai told Gulf News on Wednesday.
Brash, offensive
Reporting brash, offensive motorists is in line with the Federal Traffic Law which came into effect on July 1 to reduce accidents on the roads through better road behaviour.
“We have witnessed a drop in traffic fines after one week of implementing the traffic law which is a good thing. We hope to reach the day when nobody is fined and everybody follows traffic instructions,” he said.
For example, traffic fines issued in Dubai declined by one-third in the week following the introduction of the amended federal traffic law on July 1 compared to the week before. Dubai Police issued 94,964 traffic fines in the seven days leading to July 1 compared to 59,777 fines issued in the July 1-7 period, Dubai Police said on Monday.
This means that 35,187 fewer fines were issued in the first week of the amended traffic law coming into force.
Meanwhile, Col Al Bannai once again clarified that there must be a policeman present to issue a fine for not wearing seat belt by back seat passengers. This fine cannot be issued in absentia.
“First, the policeman will warn the driver as he is responsible of everybody in the car. If the offence is repeated, then the driver can be fined Dh400 for each passenger not wearing the seat belt,” Col Al Bannai said.
He urged parents to fix a child seat in the back seat for small children, but police will be lenient with bigger families if there is at least one child seat in the back.
“We are not asking much from drivers, just follow traffic instructions and avoid traffic fines.”
Register first
Dubai Police said that if you want to be able to report violations, you must first register via Dubai Police’s website. You can then report any incidents by calling either of these three numbers: 8007777, 8004353 or 901.
Alternatively, you can email information about the violation to mail@dubaipolice.gov.ae
Tinting rule
New traffic rules will allow car owners to use up to 50 per cent tint in their vehicle windows, ending a long-standing 30 per cent tint rule.
All vehicles — except trucks and taxis — are eligible to have the darker window tint, said Dubai Police.
