Watch out, radar guns point at you

Watch out, radar guns point at you
By Amira Agarib 3 August 2008

DUBAI - The Dubai Police are going all out to nab motorists who ignore speed limits. There would be 513 fixed radars and 30 mobile radars monitoring Dubai roads by the end of this year, said Brigadier Mohammed Saif Al Zafin, Director of the General Department of Traffic.

Al Zafin told Khaleej Times recently that the police are going to introduce 14 more mobile radar guns very soon.

The new radar guns would help police catch the 'arrogant' drivers who don't comply with the speed limits.

According to the latest statistics, the radars had recorded 1,182,000 of the 1,872,000 speed violations during the first 11 months of 2007. The statistics for December 2007 are not available.

The installation of radars and cameras on the roads, on the directions of Lt-Gen Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, aims at discouraging motorists from speeding and reducing the number of fatalities and losses in terms of money and property. Al Zafin said the Traffic Department would also install 64 speed radar cameras at a number of intersections. The total number of installed cameras would reach 158 by the end of the current year. Al Zafin pointed out that the traffic department has installed 174 speed radars so far this year, including 84 at traffic signals, 14 on road shoulders and 15 mobile radars.

He said the recent statistics show a drop in jumping of traffic signals due to the installation of the cameras at intersections and signals. They also show that the number of fatal accidents has dropped during the first half of the current year compared to the corresponding period in 2007.

He said that the Traffic Department has identified specific areas that need intensive radar monitoring. On the basis of this, the department installed 241 fixed and mobile radars on Emirates Road and Al Garhoud and Business Bay Crossing in addition to another 15 mobile radars on various roads in 2007.

(The radar gun is a small doppler radar used to detect the speed of objects at which it is pointed. The radar guns could be hand-held, mounted on vehicles or mobile.

The hand-held units are mostly battery-powered and are used as a stationary speed limit enforcement tool. The stationary radar is mounted on police vehicles and may have one or two antennae.

Moving radar guns are used when the police vehicle is in motion. These devices are very sophisticated — able to track vehicles approaching and moving away from the patrol vehicle. They can also track the fastest vehicle in the selected radar beam, in front or on the rear side.)

amira@khaleejtimes.com