Dubai Police work to exorcise ‘ghost’ traffic fines

Khaled Mazjub, a 43-year-old Jordanian living in Dubai, committed a traffic violation while he was asleep at home.

"I was fined for invalid parking at a parking lot where I had never been.

“According to the violation, I parked my car there at 4am. I was home at that time and sleeping," says Khaled.

Khaled is not the only person perplexed at receiving an impossible traffic fine.

“For a while, I was receiving traffic fines for using Salik roads without paying the Salik fee. Although I got my car in 2008, all these violations were made in 2007,” says SK, an Indian living in Dubai.

According to Dubai Police, these strange fines are possible, as mistakes do occur in the issuance of penalties.

As such, claims of alleged violators that the violation was not made by him or her sometimes prove to be correct.

“It sometimes occurs that we receive messages from people who claim that they did not commit the violation that they were fined for, and they turn out to be right; the fine was issued by mistake,” acknowledges Major General Mohammed Saif Al Zafeen, Director of General Traffic Department of Dubai Police.

According to Al Zafeen, a mistake may be made while registering the violation, or when the violation is entered into the system.

“Mistakes happen and they can be made in several ways. The police officer who registers the violation may incorrectly register the number plate, or any other features of the violating vehicle such as the kind of car, its colour, or the time and place of the violation.

“Or, the mistake is on the part of the officer who enters the violation into the system.

“Sometimes a mistake is repeated by certain officers. In that case the department organises work sessions for these officers, in order to reduce the number of mistakes,” tells Al Zafeen.

Dubai Police is willing to look into any violation and conclude that a mistake is made, whenever that is the case.

When the claim is correct and the person has not committed the violation, the fine will be waived off directly.

“After receiving a couple of fines on the car that I did not own by that time, I visited the head office,” says SK.

“It turned out that it was a rental car that had been involved in the violations, and my fines were waived off.”

Another resident of Dubai, who was fined for speeding in Abu Dhabi while he had never visited the emirate, is less satisfied with the procedure.

“Because the violation was made in Abu Dhabi, I have to visit the Abu Dhabi head office to have the fine waived off.

I live and work in Dubai, and I do not know when to do this, so the fine has remained on my name until now,” he tells.

“When a violation is reconsidered and it is assured that it was registered incorrectly, the offense will be transferred to the actual violator, after the correct data is confirmed,” says Al Zafeen.

Any person who is convinced that a traffic violation is wrongly registered on his name, or feels that there is a fault in the offense can request reconsideration of the offense at the Complaints and Suggestions Section of the Head Office of Dubai Police in the emirate where the violation was registered.

MUST READ:

Are Pakistani, Indian drivers Dubai's most dangerous?

Over 155,000 traffic tickets issued by Dubai police

Fatal UAE road accidents fall 20%

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.