Dubai traffic cameras now track seat-belt, mobile phone offenders

Motorists who do not use their seat belt or speak on their mobile phone while driving can no longer get away with it following the installation of new advanced police cameras in Dubai, the emirate’s traffic police chief was quoted on Monday as saying.

Colonel Saif Al Mazroui said the new cameras, deployed in and around the city, caught nearly 51,891 speed, seat belt and mobile phone offences in about 11 months.

He said the offences also include illegal overtaking, driving in hard shoulder areas and the absence of registration number plates.

“Drivers think that the cameras we have installed recently target only speedsters but they actually can detect more than a speed offence in both directions,” Mazroui said, quoted by the Dubai-based Arabic language daily ‘Emarat Al Youm’.

He said the new cameras, dubbed ‘Al Burj’ (tower), can also detect offending trucks and cars which come at close distance behind other vehicles.

“Since the beginning of this year, these cameras have recorded 21,374 hard shoulder offences.

“These are very serious offences.

“The cameras can also catch drivers who go at high speed at junctions even if the lights are green,” he said.

He said 20,780 red light offences have also been recorded in the first 11 months of 2015 while there were 6,512 offences by heavy duty trucks changing lanes.

Mazroui said 52 Al Burj cameras have been recently installed on Sheikh Zayed Rd while 31 new cameras have been deployed at junctions.

“We are focusing on Sheikh Zayed Rd given its heavy traffic nature and the high accident rate.

“In the first nine months of this year, these accidents killed 122 people compared with 131 in the same period of last year,” he said.
 

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.