Dubai roads get new speed limits

Dubai Police on Thursday announced new speed limits on certain roads across the emirate.

According to Colonel Saif Al Mazroui, the Director of the General Directorate of Traffic at Dubai Police, the speed limit from the first interchange of the Dubai-Al Ain road right up to the Al Ain border has been fixed at a 100km/hr with the radar limit being set at a 120km/hr.

Previously the speed limit on Dubai-Al Ain was 120km/hr and the radar speed limit was 140km/hr.

On Umm Suqeim, motorists will have to be more cautious as the speed limit has been reduced from 110km/hr to 100km/hr. 

On Dubai Police Academy flyover located on the Sheikh Zayed road heading towards Al Marabe' traffic light is 80km/hr with the radar speed limit at 100km/hr.

A few roads in Oud Metha and Al Qudra Road have a speed limitof 90km/hr, with a radar setting of 111km/hr.

Al Sufouh Road too will see a lower speed limit of 60km/hr, and a radar speed limit of 80km. Previously, it was 80km/hr with a radar limit of 100km/hr.

In Ras Al Khaimah

December 2015 saw the installation of radars and cameras on Ras Al Khaimah roads.

Major-General Ali Abdullah bin Alwan Al Nuaimi, Commander-in-Chief of the RAK Police, said the new gadgets can identify the lane of the erring vehicle, and differentiate between the speed of light and heavy vehicles.

"The 10 sophisticated radars can also record videos for every violation daily with a 24 hour video recording capacity, whereas the 24 video cameras will be controlling a number of major intersections here." The high definition video cameras will give a boost to radars, he underlined.

In Sharjah

Sharjah has installed 40 radars at traffic lights and internal roads to detect speeding and red-light violations. The radars have been operational from the first day of 2016.

Colonel Ahmed bin Darwish, deputy director of the traffic department, said the new radars are aimed at reducing speeding-related accidents. "These radars will definitely force motorists to follow the speed limit to avoid hefty fines and black points. The project will ensure safety for pedestrians as well as motorists." 

DEFENSIVE DRIVING! How to do it right: Have an escape route.

Check your mirrors every few seconds to see what's beside and behind you. Taking into account the position of the cars around you and the road ahead, decide where you could maneuver safely to avoid an accident. Having an avoidance route is essential. If you don't - say, if the road is narrow and there's no shoulder - you need to increase your following distance.

Don't depend on other drivers.

Be considerate of others, but look out for yourself.

Don't assume that another driver is going to move out of the way or allow you to merge.

Plan your movements anticipating the worst-case scenario.

(With inputs from WAM, Khaleej Times reporters Ahmed Shabaan and Afkar Abdallah) Khaleejtimes.com