Pay traffic fine before leaving the country

Dubai : Soon, the traffic fines of the expatriates are likely to be linked with the immigration counters of the departure areas of various ports of the country, to prevent the violators from leaving the country without paying accumulated fines.

In a recent meeting of the Federal Traffic Council, presided over by Lt.-Gen. Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, a recommendation in this regard was submitted, said Major-General Mohammed Saif Al Zafeen, Director of the council.

The council has also recommended that drivers should disclose their illnesses in writing and the health authorities should give names of the people who are suffering from diseases that may hinder driving, to the licensing authorities.

If the recommendation gets approval, the drivers with accumulated traffic violation fines will be stopped at the port of departure - land, sea or air - whether they are leaving the country permanently or temporarily.

Such a linking will solve the issue of accumulated traffic fines, being faced by the traffic departments of the country, he said, adding that Emiratis, who have accumulated traffic fines, will be notified and all their traffic files will be stopped if they did not pay.

He noted if the recommendations are approved, smart devices and ATMs would be installed in addition to the available ones at the ports of departure to make the payment easier for the passengers. He also pointed out that some vehicle owners flee without paying the fines.

Drivers with illnesses

The council's recommendation said that the health departments and various bodies at the federal level should give the names of people who suffer from diseases that hinder safe driving including epilepsy, diabetes, heart diseases and others to show whether the disease level of the person will affect the ability to drive.

Al Zafeen said that he hoped that the initiative comes from the parents, or the drivers who want to obtain or renew the driving licences should notify the licensing authorities that they suffer from an illness. They should also bring a certified medical report from the medical authorities that states their disease does not affect their driving, and the certifying person would take full responsibility if a traffic accident is caused by the impact of the disease.

"If the disease was diagnosed after the issuance of the licence, the driver is liable to inform the authorities about the nature of illness," he added. Other recommendations of the meeting include conducting special awareness sessions by the traffic departments for drivers who are involved in a number of accidents.

Al Zafeen also stated that parents are not doing enough to educate their children about the dangers of reckless driving, speeding and committing traffic violations. When parents of a young, frequent violator is contacted by the police to for giving advice and awareness sessions, there should be proper follow-up to ensure that the violations are not repeated by the same person.

Unified timing for truck ban

The council suggested that discussions should be held among various departments concerned of all the emirates, including public work departments and roads and traffic authorities, about the appropriate and unified timings for a ban on the movement of trucks.

1. a failure to have unified timing would lead to a heavy traffic jam on many of the roads, especially on the vital roads that ink all the emirates.

Stricter measures against speeding

A motorist who speeds by more than 50 per cent of the allowed speed limit should have his/her vehicle impounded immediately, the Federal Traffic Council has recommended.

The recommendations read by Lt.-Gen. Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, in a meeting of the council said speeding poses a serious threat to road users.

The meeting also recommended determining minimum speed limits on the highways nationwide and building a by-pass highway beginning from Saudi borders and ending up at the city of Fujairah designated to heavy trucks only.

Other recommendations include unifying the traffic file for motorists countrywide through the Emirates ID. Increasing the legal age for driving motorbikes and classification of motorbike licences into two categories are another recommendations. Separate licences would be issued for the bikes with less than 200cc engines and those with higher capacity. For the first category, licence would be issued to those aged more than 18 years, while in the second category, licencee should be aged above 21 years.

If the recommendation gets approval, issuing traffic fines would be shifted to an e-system, abolishing the system of issuing the tickets by hand. The speed margin of the heavy trucks, buses and taxis will be 10kmh over the speed limit, instead of 20kmh.

UAE driving licence validity to be 5 years?

The recommendation is to cut the validity from 10 years to five years, which will force the drivers to renew the licence every five years.