Expatriates cannot leave UAE without paying traffic fine

The authorities intend to intensify penalties against road offenders by scrapping a long-standing 50 per cent cut in fines, mainly speeding.

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“We have decided to cancel the 50 per cent cut in the traffic fines within two months. We are also planning to take severe measures against reckless drivers who commit offences exceeding Dh10,000,” said Brigadier Hussein Ahmed Al Harthi, Director-General of Central Operations, Abu Dhabi Police.

Quoted by local newspapers, he said the offences would be linked to other local departments and to the immigration and airport so expatriates who commit offences would be barred from leaving the UAE before paying fines.

Police said offenders would have to pay the entire fine and those who commit serious offences would be severely punished when the new regulations are enforced shortly.

His figures showed road accidents killed 77 people in Abu Dhabi the first quarter, a 42 per cent increase over the same period of last year, when 54 people died on roads.