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Only In Dubai: Racking Up A Dh42K Speeding Fine In Five Minutes
Kipp is getting weary of the reckless driving and speeding characteristic of Sheikh Zayed Road and is wondering when will it all end?
November 3, 2010 3:41 by shafeer
In typical Dubai style, a driver has broken the speed limit and probably some records to boot. Emirates 24|7 reports that an Emirati driver has managed to rack up a fine of Dh42,000 in a matter of five minutes when he sped past 12 different speed cameras on Sheikh Zayed Road (but of course, Sheikh Zayed Road). In addition to the fines, the man, who was driving at 180 km per hour, will also have his car impounded for a year – though Director of the Dubai Traffic Department, Major General Mohammed Al Zafeen, conceded ‘to encourage him to respect traffic rules, we agreed to reduce the impounding period to 300 days.’
Living in the Emirates, not to mention having to brave Sheikh Zayed Road every day to get to work, has made Kipp largely immune to reports of this kind. Instead of being shocked of a Dh42, 000 fine accumulated in a matter of five minutes, we just roll our eyes with impatience, wondering if this will ever end. A report of two young Emiratis who were charged with endangering lives on Sheikh Zayed Road and consequently risked a stint in prison for up to three years, comes to mind. Possibly the most outrageous aspect of the case, was the fact that the two, who were in their early twenties, had filmed their stunts (read: reckless driving) and posted the footage on YouTube. In the words of The National the video showed ‘a pick-up truck intentionally spinning and skidding across the road and a 4×4 zigzagging through traffic while balanced on two wheels.’
Appalling, but then again, not too surprising. Let’s not forget that this all happened in Dubai. According to The National, Dubai issued 326,404 speeding fines in the first three months of 2009 alone.
What can Kipp say, but when will this end? What do you think needs to be done to cut down these reckless speeding incidents?
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6 Comments
Ammm, does anyone remember what happened with the 2 reckless drivers who were doing stunts on ther road?……well let me tell you. They were let go because the stunts were being performed under controlled with no harm to the general public, so it is acceptable.
326,404 fines at Dhs 700/- each minimum is
Dhs 228,482,800/- colossal collection of fines
228 million is that correct…………and that too in just the first 3 months of 2009………
Hope they use some of it to educate the speeding drivers that they apprehend……… Hope they learn their lesson and leave Dubai roads much more safer than before
42k fine for a billionaire???? what difference does it make.. make fines big, bigger, biggest or whatever,.,. it will happen more and more in richest.. IMHO fines may not be big, but paying them must go through a hard and shameful process.. e.g for teenagers a fine of even 50Dh will be enough if they are called upon in public with their parents and make them pay their fine in coins…. Ability to pay fines easily via CC while sitting at home will make it worse… but unfortunately it turns into business for POLICE authority and so raising fines is only option left with that thought. !! Time to think of something result oriented not business profit oriented !!
Hmmm, another news website today states that the driver was “let off” by just paying his fines and will not have black point or his car impounded… because he was in “difficult circumstances”: apparently his daughter was ill and he had to get home quickly. Oh, so if you’ve got a good excuse it’s alright then? Let’s face it: I’m afraid to say but things will never change unless there is a huge pile-up with dozens of cars in twisted, burning metal and numerous casualties.
There was, about two and half years ago – like that changed anything.
Given this country’s obsession with everything being the world’s biggest, how about the world’s biggest fines for dangerous driving, the world’s longest periods of car confiscation and the world’s longest prison terms for incidents involving death through reckless driving…