WHY PEOPLE JUMP DUBAI RED LIGHTS
dubai — There is a decline in red light violations in Dubai. However, the number of violations was still high, with 14,236 in the first eight months of 2016 compared to 15,717 in 2015, according to Dubai police.
Despite improved patrolling and enforcement methods by the Dubai police — including the installation of 28 additional high-tech cameras — accidents continue to cause serious injuries and even deaths, and pose a serious danger to motorists on roads.
dubai — Jumping the red signal violations dropped in Dubai during the first eight months of the year and reached 14,236, according to Colonel Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, director of the General Department of Traffic.
He added that after a spate of deaths recorded in the previous year, indictors showed that red signal violations topped the list of offences at 15,717. He said the traffic police had installed mobile radars and Al Burj radars on the streets across the city targeting reckless young drivers.
The police had also launched a series of campaigns titled, ‘Desert Without Blood’, he added.
Colonel Al Mazroui said recently the Dubai Police had installed 28 new radars which can capture images of violators before entering they intersection.
Al Mazroui explained that the fine for violating a red light signal is Dh800, in addition to the confiscation of the vehicle for 15 days, and 8 black points. The fine for exceeding the speed limit for over 60km per hour is Dh1,000, confiscation of the vehicle for 30 days and 12 black points.
a combination of factors
Thomas Edelmann, founder and managing director of Road Safety UAE, noted that the high number of red light jumpers is due to a “combination of factors”.
“It has a lot to do with distracted driving. Lots of motorists run red lights without even realising it. They’re looking at the car ahead of them, for example, so they enter the crossing when the red light occurs,” he said.
Another important factor, Edelmann noted, is poor time management. “We find that people are running late,” he said. “In our research, 72 per cent of the people say they speed because they are running late. We always say that people should start their trips a little early. The worse that can happen is that you reach 10 minutes late.”
Edelmann said that there is a general proper lack of road etiquette among drivers in the UAE. “People think they are good drivers and can make the light,” he said. “There needs to be a general feeling of caring, not only for our own safety and security and that of our passengers, but also for the people around us.”
Edelmann praised the awareness efforts and noted that the installation of cameras and other enforcement measures leads drivers to think before they speed.
“We must generate an environment in which drivers feel controlled, so that if someone wants to speed or jump a red light, they think three times, or think they’ll be caught,” he said. “I think the authorities are doing the right thing.”