Abu Dhabi motorist racks up Dh1.4m in unpaid fines

A senior police officer said a new law was introduced to combat motorists failing to pay off huge financial penalties

Abu Dhabi traffic could be permanently reduced because of the pandemic with more companies offering flexible working hours. Pawan Singh / The National

An Abu Dhabi driver racked up Dh1.4 million in unpaid fines, leading police to change course to clamp down on law-breaking road users.

Brig Gen Salem Al Dhaheri, the emirate's deputy traffic chief, said the motorist was one of a number of people to accumulate huge financial penalties, with another motorist building up Dh1.2 million in unpaid fines.

Brig Gen Al Dhaheri said the penalties were issued for speeding, not wearing a seat belt, and exceeding the permitted window tint percentage among other offences.

He would not reveal the maximum amount of fines accumulated by a single motorist but said the outstanding fees led to the introduction of a new impoundment law. The time period in which the fines were recorded was also not revealed.

Last month, Abu Dhabi Police brought in a car impoundment rule as a penalty for drivers whose unpaid fines surpassed Dh7,000.

Law 5 of 2020 punishes specific traffic offences with a car impoundment and increased the fees to release a seized vehicle.

"As Abu Dhabi Police, we did not have the authority to catch a car who has reached an unreasonable number of unpaid fines, before this law," he said.

“We could only do that if the car’s registration had expired.”

According to UAE traffic laws, a car can be impounded for seven days if its registration has been expired for more than three months, in addition to a Dh500 fine.

The law, however, allows motorists to avoid impoundment by paying Dh100 for each day of impoundment.

“Now the law allows us to stop a car on the street, or wherever it is parked, and impound it if the fines registered against it have not been paid after exceeding Dh7,000.”

The car will only be released once all due amounts are settled.

Previously, some motorists would avoid paying fines by not renewing their vehicle registration, said Brig Gen Al Dhaheri, during a virtual lecture organised by Majalis Abu Dhabi, under the Crown Prince’s Court.

The emirate's roads are now equipped with cameras that detect cars with expired registrations.

“So [now], motorists cannot avoid renewing their car registration. They will eventually get caught.”

He said the new law aimed to encourage motorists to pay off their fines immediately to avoid accumulating large amounts.

"We don't want fines to pile up. We want to help motorists pay on time.

“I have come across more than one person who told me ‘we don’t have money left to pay [the fines]’.

"They don’t think ahead – that the car will be caught anyway after its registration has expired.”

He said the force was keen for people to immediately pay off fines so they may be deterred from repeating traffic offences.

He said the threat of car impoundment would act as a greater deterrent than facing the consequences months later when renewing a vehicle's registration.

“Our goal is also to reduce traffic violations in order to increase road safety.”