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29 March 2024

Dubai-Hatta speed limit cut to 100kmph

20 accidents result in 5 deaths, 4 seriously injured. (Supplied)

Published
By Staff

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has decided to reduce the maximum speed of Dubai – Hatta Road from 120 km per hour to 100 km per hour in a sector starting from Omani borders at Mizairee up to the Omani Border Post starting from the 20 January 2016.

Maitha bin Udai, CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency said: “RTA’s decision to reduce the speed limit in this sector of the Dubai Road has been taken primarily in the interest of public safety in a bid to curb the number of traffic accidents.

“Recent statistics showed that the sector has witnessed 20 traffic accidents resulting in 5 fatalities, 4 victims seriously injured, 9 sustained moderate injuries and 29 inflicted with minor injuries during the period 2010-2015. The road is experiencing intense traffic volumes generated by heavy vehicles on both directions.

“High speed is considered a direct contributor to 20% of fatal crashes; which obviously tells that speed control is one of the most effective tools of reducing traffic accidents.

“The mechanism of setting the Posted Speed depends on a number of parameters including the designed speed of the road, actual speed of the road observed by most drivers, urbanisation level on both roadsides, pedestrian movement, availability of schools, mosques and other vital facilities, level of crashes witnessed, traffic volumes, and the high probability of serial accidents,” explained Maitha.

According to traffic safety researches conducted by the Traffic & Roads Agency, studies were focused on a number of spots witnessing recurrent or high rate of traffic accidents in order to develop remedial measures in accordance with the Speed Management Manual in Dubai.

This manual provides for a flexible strategy and  procedures in setting speed limits on Dubai roads conforming to the highest international practices.

It defines the correlation between the optimal speed limits and the traffic flow.

It also provides for intensifying basic engineering tools for rectifying speed dangerous speeds, carrying out media campaigns highlighting speed risks, and the use of the optimal traffic enforcement measures, in addition to charting out principles and procedures of specifying and revising the current speed limits.

“One of the key tools of controlling the speed in Dubai is the radar system, and accordingly studies focused on the grace margin between the road speed and the grace speed according to the best international practices with the aim of saving the lives of road users.

“Many of the advanced countries allow a grace margin not exceeding 10 km per hour, and it was therefore concluded that it was essential to set a grace margin speed in a technical manner. Findings of researches conducted in the UK and Norway proved that speed control radars contributed to slashing accident levels by as much as 20% when properly used,” noted the CEO of RTA Traffic & Roads Agency.