Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Police have announced that the 50 percent discount on traffic fines will not be available from next month.
The cancellation of discount will be effective from August 1, for the fines on fresh traffic violations, said the police. Fines on traffic offenses took place before the date will be calculated as per the former rule, reported Gulf News.
The discount, which is automatically applied when residents pay their fines, will not apply for any violations that are recorded from August onward, although the discount will stand for offences registered before that, the report said.
Abu Dhabi Police reportedly said the decision to impose the full amount of the traffic fine aims to enhance road safety in the emirate.
In May, the news portal reported that the emirate witnessed a 42 percent jump in traffic-related fatalities in the first four months of the year alone. A total of 77 traffic deaths occurred in the first quarter of 2016, compared with 54 traffic deaths during the same period last year (2015). There were also 489 traffic accidents recorded in the quarter, compared with 477 last year.
“All the methods of awareness and control we have carried out seem to have had a limited effect on drivers, who are the reason behind road incidents. Around 88 of the traffic accidents took place in clear weather, indicating drivers’ accountability,” Brigadier Hussain Al Harithi, director-general of central operations at the Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters, had reportedly said earlier.
Sudden swerving led to 15 per cent of the traffic accidents, while a failure to maintain a safe distance between vehicles accounted for 13 per cent of incidents. Other common violations included speeding, failure to stick to the lane, and jumping traffic lights.
Drivers aged between 18 and 33 were reported to have caused 44 per cent of road accidents in the first quarter of 2016, followed by those aged 31 to 45, who were responsible for 38 per cent of incidents. Fifteen accidents during the period were also attributed to underage drivers (below 18 years), reported Gulf News.
The discounts for traffic fines were first introduced in Abu Dhabi in 2010, after the implementation of a black points system for traffic fines. Residents told Gulf News that discounts helped reduce the burden of hefty fines for minor violations.
“I once had to pay a Dh1,000 fine for speeding near a roundabout, even though there were no speed limits specified on nearby road signs. In such cases, the 50 percent discount would have felt like a boon,” a driver told Gulf News.
