Skip to main content

Dubai increases enforcement cameras

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is to install 100 new radar speed-camera stations, twenty-four of which will be activated by Dubai Police in May. The new cameras include systems installed at traffic signals to catch drivers who speed up to catch the green light or jump a red light. In 2011, more than 1.5 million speeding offences were recorded by radar cameras, the Dubai Statistics Centre reported. That figure represented a leap of about 115,000 on the previous year, when 1.4 million speeding
March 4, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is to install 100 new radar speed-camera stations, twenty-four of which will be activated by Dubai Police in May.  The new cameras include systems installed at traffic signals to catch drivers who speed up to catch the green light or jump a red light.

In 2011, more than 1.5 million speeding offences were recorded by radar cameras, the Dubai Statistics Centre reported.  That figure represented a leap of about 115,000 on the previous year, when 1.4 million speeding offences were recorded.

Dubai Police only recently calibrated the cameras at traffic lights to give them the ability to catch drivers who speed up on a flashing green signal to make it through an intersection.  Within weeks, police said they registered “thousands” of fines.

Although the offenders were caught during a testing phase, a spokesman for Dubai Traffic Police said the fines would be levied because these drivers had been caught breaking an existing law - speeding.  Anyone travelling more than 20 km/h over the limit to make the light could have their car impounded while those going less than 20 km/h over the limit would face a fine.

In 2011, 19,000 fines were issued for jumping a red light in Dubai, 1,200 more than in 2010, according to the Dubai Statistics centre.  In the same year, motorists jumping red lights were responsible for 199 accidents, and 63 were caused by speeding.

The speed cameras are managed by the RTA.  Maitha bin Adai, chief executive of the RTA’s traffic and roads department, said it had installed 450 radar stations, and 230 intersection camera stations.  However, not all of these contain cameras.

He continued, “In coordination with Dubai Police we have installed 320 radar speed cameras and 156 intersection cameras.  It is imperative to review our law and compare them with the best international standards on a regular basis if we are to raise the safety standards on our roads.”

Related Content

  • Monitoring and transparency preserve enforcement's reputation
    July 30, 2012
    What can be done to preserve automated enforcement's reputation in the face of media and public criticism? Here, system manufacturers and suppliers talk about what they think are the most appropriate business models. Recent events in Italy only served to once again to push automated enforcement into the media spotlight. At the heart of the matter were the numerous alleged instances of local authorities and their contract suppliers of enforcement services colluding to illegally shorten amber signal phase tim
  • Technology advances improve enforcement
    July 26, 2012
    Across the board, technology is being brought to bear to improve the efficiency of enforcement. Bus lane monitoring, parking and controlled access have all benefited from systems introduced in recent months. While speed and red light infringements tend to attract the most attention, there remain several other areas of enforcement where automation can bring significant operational and efficiency benefits. Lane monitoring and access control also continue to benefit from technological development.
  • Report: 'Red-light cameras have reduced crashes’
    February 27, 2013
    From the beginning, the SafeLight and SafeSpeed programs in the Louisiana city of Lafayette have met with controversy and resistance. However, a newly released report shows that the programs, which began in 2007, have reduced crashes at monitored intersections and improved the city's finances. A new contract with Redflex, the company that runs the program, will provide cameras at four new locations and will deploy two more speed vans by 2016. “We believe that SafeLight and SafeSpeed, the so-called red-light
  • The twisting path to enforcement’s future
    June 5, 2014
    Survey reveals some division of views about enforcement’s future as Colin Sowman discovers. Technological advances and legislative changes pose many questions for those involved in road enforcement, ranging from the changing demands of privacy and data protection legislation to the practicalities on multi-speed enforcement. So to get the industry’s views ITS International took soundings on some of these bigger questions. In a world where many vehicles are fitted with GPS linked ‘black box’ telematics system