Dubai Police announced on Thursday that it had installed 50 new multi-camera radars in the emirate capable of detecting vehicles running red lights, tailgating and those driving with expired registrations.
Col Saif Al Mazroui, director of the General Department of Traffic, said that the radars’ new tailgate function had delivered positive results during two months of testing and were capable of detecting vehicles that fail to keep a distance equivalent to at least two seconds behind the car in front. The radars can accurately distinguish between cars, trucks and buses, he said, as well as being able to see if any trucks were on the road outside dedicated time zones.
A function on the new cameras can also determine whether vehicles are driving with expired registrations and can alert the nearest patrol car.
This week, Dubai Police launched a campaign to promote awareness of maintaining safe distances while driving. According to police statistics, there was a 40 per cent increase in deaths caused by tailgating between 2012 and last year, with 22 deaths compared to 13. From January 1 this year until the end of March, there were seven deaths.
In a study compiled by Sharjah Police traffic directorate tailgating was listed as one of the main driving offences in the UAE between 2007 and 2012 with almost 39 million offences logged.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
