Dubai: Speeding topped the list of traffic violations in the first nine months of 2011, with over one million offences, according to Dubai Police.
Of the total 1,758,492 tickets issued in this period, speeding offences accounted for 1,128,610, said Major General Mohammad Saif Al Zafein, Director of Dubai Police's Traffic Department.
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The department is studying the reasons for the alarming increase in speeding violations, which account for 85 per cent of all violations, Al Zafein said, adding that the department was implementing awareness campaigns to inform the public about the repercussions of speeding.
"The figures show that some motorists have a passion for speed, combined with carelessness for their safety and that of other drivers," he said. The traffic department will step up its fight against speed and no leniency will be shown to offenders, he added.
Blocking traffic was the second most common offence with 78,931 tickets, followed by not fastening seat belts with 63,931 violations. Tickets issued for stopping in prohibited places reached 60,250, while lane discipline offences by light vehicles totalled 40,038, not leaving a safe distance accounted for 36,344 offences, and tickets issued for reckless driving were 2,053.
A serious violation that saw a drop this year was jumping of red lights, with 12,888 registered, compared to 13,604 in the same period last year, while jaywalking offences reached 32,606 incidents.
Other offences included overtaking on the hard shoulder (2,864, compared to 3,897 last year), while 4,870 people failed to show their driving licences when asked for by police, compared to 4,161 in the same period last year.
Decrease in fatalities
The death and injury index in the first nine months of this year fell compared to the same period last year, with 95 fatalities and 1,381 injuries compared to 122 fatalities and 1,442 injuries last year.
Of the road fatalities, 26 were caused by failure to respect other road users, 12 by sudden swerving, 11 by driving under the influence of alcohol, nine by lane discipline violations, nine by jumping red lights, seven by failure to leave a safe distance and six by speeding.
