DUBAI // Drivers caught speeding at more than 60kph above the limit will have their vehicles impounded on the spot.
Cars will also be confiscated from drivers who tailgate, weave through traffic at high speed or otherwise drive recklessly.
The tough new sanctions are part of Speed Kills, a campaign against speeding-related deaths launched yesterday by Dubai Police.
The force will intensify traffic patrols, particularly on high-risk roads such as Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai Bypass Road and the Dubai-Al Ain Road, Major General Saif al Zafein, head of the Traffic Department, said. "Motorists caught exceeding the speed limit by more than 60kph will be stopped, and their cars will be towed away to the impound," he said.
Cars will be impounded for 30 days, and drivers will be fined Dh1,000 and have 12 black points on their licence, under federal traffic regulations. The police will use radar guns to catch violators during the campaign.
The two-month campaign aims to increase awareness among the public, especially schoolchildren, about the danger of speeding. The measures against speeding will remain after the campaign ends.
Dubai Police have a road-deaths target of a statistical zero per 100,000 inhabitants by 2020. "Speed is the most dangerous behaviour on the road and is the biggest challenge for achieving that objective," Lt General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the Dubai Police Chief, said at the launch of the campaign. "We need to educate people, especially younger generations, about the danger of speeding."
Last year the death rate was 12.9 per 100,000 people, and the traffic department expects it to fall to 10 or 11 by the end of this year.
"If we have a reduction of 25 fatalities a year, it would be possible to reach our target by 2020. But one needs to educate people and work hard to achieve this difficult goal," Lt Gen Tamim said.
As part of the campaign, officers from the traffic department signed an undertaking to "Do the best we can, day and night, to preserve road safety to reach the zero death rate per 100,000 people by 2020".
The number of road deaths in Dubai fell to 134 in the first 10 months of this year, compared with 194 in the same period last year, down more than 30 per cent, according to traffic department statistics.
The figures show that more than 25 per cent of deaths on the roads this year were caused directly by speeding Maj Gen al Zafein said: "Speed, whether directly or indirectly, is the cause of more than 70 per cent of all road fatalities in Dubai."
An accident indirectly linked to speeding could include a driver losing control due to a burst tyre and being unable to avoid an accident due to the speed of the vehicle.
The campaign will target different sectors of the public by sending text messages in Arabic and English. Awareness seminars will be held at government schools and other institutions. The traffic department said it would organise weekly motorcycle and sports-car parades as part of the campaign.
"It is important to reach people who are fascinated by racing and speed, and make them understand that there are designated places for such sports," Maj Gen al Zafein said.
