Drivers arrested for oiling road

UMM AL QAIWAIN // Police have seized five cars belonging to young men attending a wedding after they poured oil on a road to slide their cars at high speeds, a technique known as drifting.

UAQ police were notified on Saturday evening that some Emiratis had turned part of the King Faisal Road into an oil lake and were making a lot of noise. The nature of the celebration was unique and dangerous, said Maj Obaid Ali Fadhel, the head of the police traffic department.

"We have seen misbehaving at weddings but this was different," he said. "Unfortunately their parents, who were present at the wedding, could not stop their sons from committing such dangerous acts that could have caused all of them to perish."

Police immediately sent patrol vehicles and cordoned off the road, confiscating vehicles and making arrests. The youths were fined Dh2,000 each and received 12 black points on their licences. Their cars will be impounded for a month, Maj Fadhel said.

"We have to be strict on such behaviour as we have seen it, in the past, causing death to some people and turning the wedding into a funeral," he said.

Maj Fadhel also warned youths that weddings should not be used as excuses for misbehaviour and dangerous driving practices. He said speeding and unnecessary use of horns would not be tolerated.