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

  • Looking both ways for speeding vehicles
    June 9, 2015
    Single-camera bi-directional speed enforcement can reduce the cost of enforcing speeding on two-way roads without repositioning the camera. Truvelo has received UK type-approval for a simultaneous bi-directional (SBD) enforcement camera, the D-Cam P digital, which can capture speeding motorist both those travelling towards and away from the camera. It is also in the process of carrying out the first installations of the D-Cam P in the UK.
  • TfL upgrades London’s speed and red light safety cameras
    September 18, 2014
    Transport for London (TfL) has begun work on a programme to overhaul the capital’s road safety camera network; replacing hundreds of old wet film cameras with modern and more efficient digital safety cameras in order to help further reduce casualties on London’s roads. According to TfL, safety cameras have proved successful in reducing road casualties in recent years. At locations where safety cameras operate in the capital, research shows that the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) fell
  • Cross-border enforcement close to becoming a reality
    February 2, 2012
    TISPOL Director Ad Hellemons offers the organisation's perspective on the issue of cross-border enforcement of traffic penalties, the progress that has been made and the potential hurdles yet to be overcome
  • The UK’s busiest crossing adopts free flow charging
    April 30, 2015
    Colin Sowman looks at the transition to free-flow charging on the Dartford Crossing, a notorious congestion blackspot on the UK motorway network. The Dartford Crossing, where London’s orbital M25 motorway crosses the lower reaches of the River Thames 32km (20 miles) to the east of Central London, has long been a major source of congestion. Now, to alleviate the congestion caused by some 50 million crossings per year, the Highways Agency has adopted a free-flow charging system - but the Crossing’s location a