Speed limit ‘buffer’ zone is removed
Drivers slowed down in areas where new signs with maximum speeds were covered, social media users say
New speed limits came into force in Abu Dhabi yesterday, without the longstanding 20kph buffer. There were some questions about the top speed on a number of roads which were without clear signage of the new limits
There was some confusion about road speed limits after the 20kph buffers were removed yesterday, despite the amount of awareness raised by transport authorities and police.
But that only served to assist the new law’s purpose of greater traffic safety.
Some of the new signs spelling out the limits without the buffers on the emirate’s roads yesterday had not yet been uncovered and sat above the old speed signs.
So instead of having, for example, the 140kph limit on the signs, some motorists were faced with the old signs reading 120kph.
One member of the Abu Dhabi Q&A Facebook page suggested that drivers should follow the speed limit on the old signs until the new ones were uncovered.
Another wrote: “I was really happy seeing all the drivers following the speed limit.”
And still another posted: “I just drove down Airport Road. They are removing the old signs.
“There were no 80kph signs, just 100kph signs. That will help with the confusion.”
One motorist, who lives in Dubai and commutes to Abu Dhabi daily for work, said some signs she passed on Sheikh Zayed Road, where the speed limit was 120kph with an additional 20kph buffer, were still covered.
“There were a few signs on the right hand side saying maximum 140kph but then I wasn’t sure if that was an old sign because they have been there for a long time,” she said.
“Everyone was driving pretty safely, though.
“Some people were driving slower than usual because they didn’t know, I think.”
Jamal Samara, a Jordanian, 44, who commutes between Dubai and Abu Dhabi on a weekly basis, said he found it difficult to keep track of where the buffer was in place and where it had been removed.
“It will be hard to tell where to start paying attention to speed limits on the Dubai-Abu Dhabi road,” Mr Samara said. “Drivers got used to driving on this road at 140kph speed without being clocked by a radar.
“Most drivers got used to driving at a high speed towards Abu Dhabi or Dubai. It will take them a long time to get used to the new rule.”
Electronic notice boards for drivers continued to display warnings that, as of August 12, the displayed speed would be the “radar speed”.
In the city, Nabeel said he had not seen the new speed limit signs in Khalidya and Khaleej Al Arabi Street.
“People were just slowing down to 100kph in front of the camera,” he said.
But Nabeel said he saw one new sign on a street behind Dalma Mall.
“The speed board used to say 30kph. That was replaced by 60 today,” Nabeel said.
Many drivers turned to social media for clarification, with one member of the Abu Dhabi Q&A Facebook page asking what the speed limit was on Khaleej Al Arabi Street.
Crashes on Sheikh Zayed Road, which links Abu Dhabi to Dubai, dropped by almost a third after the speed limit was reduced from 160kph to 140kph in 2011.
And a study by the UAE University found it had successfully reduced the variation in speed of the traffic.
Everyone was driving pretty safely. Some were driving slower than usual because they didn’t know MOTORIST ON SHEIKH ZAYED ROAD