Back it or scrap it? Drivers asked for views on future of the 20kph speed buffer
Members of the public are being asked if the 20kph buffer for speeding drivers should be kept or axed as part of plans to improve road safety.
A driver travelling on the E11 between Dubai and Abu Dhabi – a 120kph road – can travel at 139kph without being clocked by a speed camera.
Drivers who exceed that speed margin, however, have to pay a fine of Dh600.
Maj Gen Mohammed Saif Al Zafeen, head of the Federal National Council and assistant commander-in-chief of Dubai Police, asked the public on Twitter if they believed the 20kph speed buffer and the fine should be kept or cancelled, and if the fine should be reduced to Dh300.
The UAE’s system is regarded as granting significantly more leeway than any other countries, many of which fine drivers heavily for any breach of the limit, or at most offer only a few kilometres-an-hour grace. Police have considered the revisions in the past but the rule remained.
Nour Naboulsi, a 32-year-old Lebanese expatriate, said that ending the speed buffer would cut the number of speed-related accidents.
“There are so many motorists who take advantage of the speeding buffer and go up to 140kph. Reducing it will definitely change many reckless motorists’ attitudes,” Mrs Naboulsi said.
But Jamal Mahmoud, 53, a Jordanian car dealership owner from Sharjah, said the buffer should be kept, but that the fine system could be used to better deter speeding.
He said if drivers racked up fines they should hang over them for six months, to give them a chance to improve their driving. If they are caught again, then they would have to pay fines.
“Motorists can’t drive only 100kph for an hour on so many roads and there are several roads in the emirate where the speed limit is only 80kph,” he said.
Usman Khalid, a Pakistani taxi driver in Dubai, said limits have come down on many of the major roads, and that it is only motorways such as Sheikh Zayed Road, the E11 and Emirates Road, which allow high speeds. “There are roads where the speed limit is set at 80kph, so with the speed buffer motorists will be driving at a maximum of 100kph.”
Maj Gen Al Zafeen said there were no firm plans yet but that he wanted to hear from drivers.
Twenty-nine people died in traffic accidents in the first seven months of the year in Dubai. Speeding was the second most common cause of accidents.
Thomas Edelmann, founder of Road Safety UAE, said the current system is confusing for drivers.
“For instance, a red light is a red light, a yield sign is a yield sign, a no-overtaking sign is a no-overtaking sign, so a 120kph maximum speed sign must be what it means,” he said.
“This simple and clear rule is applied around the world and it must also be applied in the UAE. It is one step towards streamlining the UAE traffic rules, which just got a fantastic boost with the new traffic amendments,” he said, referring to the mandatory seat-belt law and child car seat rules.
“As speeding remains the No 2 cause of deaths on our roads, everything must be done to protect and educate motorists, and clear and precise rules help in this context,” Mr Edelmann said.
Enforcement on the roads must increase, he said.
“New technologies, such as section control, average speed measurement, more mobile radars and more police presence on the roads will contribute to reducing the number of traffic offences,” he said. “This will reduce the number of deaths on the road.”
There are roads where the speed limit is set at 80kph, so with the speed buffer motorists will be driving at a maximum of 100kph USMAN KHALID Dubai taxi driver